Wrong Salvatore
by CosmicButton
Summary: What if Elena got into a car accident and woke up with no memory of the last four years? As she learns to cope with her amnesia she has to also cope with her new life... it was certainly not what she expected. Canon until 1x15. Delena fic.
1. Chapter 1

A/N Okay well I'd seen that no one had done an amnesia fic for The Vampire Diaries and so I decided to do one. I seem too obsessed with the amnesia theme because it is so much fun to play about with. You can do so many different things! Anyway I hope you all like it.

This is the re-posted version changing it into narrative... Elena's thoughts are in quotation marks with italics!

Disclaimer: Do you think I'd be here writing this story if I owned TVD? I'd be making out with Ian if I did!

* * *

I've been thinking about you  
And how we used to be then  
Back when we didn't have to live  
We could start again  
Do you remember do you remember  
Do you remember all of the times we had?  
_DO YOU REMEMBER – JAY SEAN_

Beep, beep, beep...

Elena awoke to the sound of a monitor beeping, completely confused. What had happened? Where was she? From the look of the pale white walls surrounding her it was most definitely a hospital. Why was she in hospital? She tried to think of the last thing she remembered when she realised that the day before had been Bonnie's birthday and so to celebrate she had drunk... apparently a lot. Did they have to pump her stomach? Elena grimaced at that thought. How could she be such an idiot? Stefan was going to kill her, chop her up into little pieces and throw her to the sharks or simply suck her dry.

As she moved to sit up she immediately flopped back down. Elena hadn't realised the searing pain of her throbbing head. Hangovers had never been this bad. Her head felt like a stampede had trampled all over it. Elena turned her head towards the side and saw that she had received many flowers. How weird, she thought, she'd only been here overnight, no need for flowers. Elena's eyes caught sight of large bouquet of beautiful purple roses, undoubtedly from Stefan. As she reached over to get the flowers so that she could read the message a nurse came in.

"Oh! It looks like you've awoken. I'll go get you some water; your throat must be hoarse. I'm Jess by the way," the nurse said. When she returned with the water in hand Elena was thoroughly grateful. Elena cleared her throat but before she could speak the nurse said something that shocked her to her core.

"I've been looking after you for the past week now."

"What?" Elena sputtered out. "No, just last night I was at my friend Bonnie's birthday party and I know I was drunk and all, but it was _last _night. As in yesterday," Elena argued with her. '_This lady was crazy'_, but instead she looked at Elena as if she was. "I have the invitation, it's in my purse. I'll show you." Elena smirked outwardly and did a victory lap in her mind, because really, they're the only type of laps she did these days.

"Elena, your bags are being stored somewhere else for safekeeping. Let me sort out where they are and I'll bring them to you." She left and Elena played with the controls on her bed, sitting up in one way or another, even if her body wouldn't let her. What could have happened that she'd been in the hospital for a week and couldn't remember any of it? Did she get drugged? She saw a story about that on Dateline one night! '_I __feel __like I've been drugged'_, or what she thought it would feel like, anyway. But then again it could just be the hospital drugs. God, thinking was making her head feel a thousand times worse.

Jess returned a few minutes later, smiling widely and holding two bags up for show. '_Uh, lady, those are __not __mine'._

"Here you are," she said, setting the bags on the table with the water cup.

"I think you're confused. Those aren't mine." Elena pointed to the items she had brought in.

"Of course they are," Jess said happily. "Your purse is just inside."

Elena took her advice and dug through the bag, eventually pulling out an unfamiliar, large, purse. She flipped it open, and sure enough, there was her driver's license. The picture staring back at Elena was her, but she looked _different. _Older, she don't know. Elena never thought she was photogenic, but that could not be her! This looked completely different last night...

Then Elena looked at the name. Elena Salvatore. WHAT? She pulled all of the cards out of the wallet and they all had the same name printed on them.

"No, no, no," Elena mumbled, rubbing her hands over her face. She must be going crazy, or she had forgotten how to read. Maybe that's it. Maybe once she was out of here, she would look at that license, and that purse, and those bags and they'll look the same as they did last night. "These aren't mine, I already told you!"

Jess looked surprised. "Dear, what do you mean they're not yours? See right here?" She pointed to a tape label on the larger, clear bag she'd pulled the other two from. "Elena Salvatore. That's you." Her calmness was unnerving and she was driving Elena crazy.

"No, my last name is Gilbert. Elena Gilbert. This is all some horrible mistake."

"Elena," the nurse asked her slowly, standing by her bed. "What do you remember?"

Elena rolled her eyes at the nurse. '_She is terribly slow and redundant- how did she ever become a nurse?'_ "I already told you- I went to my best friend Bonnie's birthday party last night, and I must have gotten too drunk, and I ended up here." Elena let out a long breath.

Jess looked at Elena, but hey-what's the worst that could've happened?

She eyed Elena again, and it looked like she was deliberating whether or not to tell her the truth. "You weren't at a birthday party last night, Elena. Eight days ago you were brought in after getting in a bad car accident. You've been in a coma until this morning."

Jess' words floored Elena. This couldn't be real. None of it. "No..." Elena started, but slow nurse Jess cut her off again.

She looked at Elena sceptically. "Forgive me if this is an obvious question, but could you tell me what year it is?"

If Elena didn't like her before, she _really _didn't now. There she went, insulting her intelligence again. "2006."

Her eyebrows rose. "And how old are you?"

"Eighteen. Anything else?" This time Elena's sarcasm came through.

"Elena, I'm not sure exactly what's going on with you, but I'm going to page your doctor in so he can do some more tests." Jess moved for the door, but Elena yelled out, as best as she could with her still scratchy voice, stopping the nurse.

"Wait! Just tell me what's wrong. You look like you know," Elena pointed out.

"I can't tell you anything for sure, Elena. And I know this is going to sound crazy, and I'm not trying to overwhelm you, but-"

"But what?"

"But it's 2010, not 2006, and you're twenty-two, not eighteen." Again, she floored Elena, but this time Elena believed her. No one would play such a cruel trick.

"How could this happen? I don't understand what's going on..."

Jess suddenly turned sympathetic. "From what I can put together, you remember all of your life, until your friend's birthday party four years ago."

"I can't remember that space in between? How can I forget four years of my life?"

"I'm not sure, dear. But I must go and find your doctor to inform him of the situation. If it's any consolation your husband is extremely sweet. He's been with you almost 24/7. It's a shame that now is one of those rare times he goes home and you happen to wake up now."

"I know," Elena replied smiling, "I remember him clearly." As the nurse leaves the room, Elena once again reached over to take the card from the bouquet of flowers. It read:

Dearest Elena,  
Praying that you will get better really soon.  
Love Damon Salvatore xxx

_'Huh how weird is that? Since when did Damon use the words love? And put kisses?'_ Elena felt a little sad at the knowledge that the flowers weren't from her husband Stefan. She couldn't believe that Stefan and her had made it through. They were married. Elena felt giddy at the knowledge; it was a shame that she couldn't remember the wedding. '_Wait a second, how comes I'm not a vampire?'_ Surely Stefan would have turned her into a vampire by now so that we could be together forever. And why did Elena need to be taken to a hospital? Surely he could give her his blood to make her better again.

Even so, Elena couldn't wrap her head around this. She got into a car accident and now she had amnesia, how... cliché. Elena decided she needed some rest because this whole situation was tiring.

* * *

Elena awoke to the feeling of someone holding and kissing her hand. She didn't want to open her eyes since it felt so good, so soft. Slowly she opened her eyes and turned to her side to see the man kissing her hand. She was completely shocked by what she saw; it wasn't Stefan, it was Damon. Elena scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

"Hey babe, you have no idea how glad I was to hear you woke up. I love you so much so don't scare me like that," Damon said with a smile on his face.

Elena yanked her arm away in disgust. "What is your problem Damon? Do you never learn? I don't want anything to do with you. I love Stefan! Can you not let it go? For God's sake I'm married; you'd think you would have stopped torturing your brother by now!"

Throughout her speech she saw a mixture of emotions pass through Damon's eyes. First was confusion, followed by worry, then anger, then back to confused and then finally to devastated. Elena almost felt bad for him.

"I don't understand," Damon replied quietly.

"Damon! I can't explain how I feel any better. How can you not understand?" Elena asked getting increasingly annoyed by his presence. Where was Stefan?

"Elena, I don't understand!" Damon repeated sounding almost hysterical. Elena felt like screaming in annoyance.

"I love Stefan, NOT you!" Elena explained to the best of her ability. Damon looked completely devastated at what she had said but before she knew it he went back to the same Damon as he cleared his face from any emotion.

"Since when?" he whispered. '_What was with these stupid questions?'_

"Since forever." Finally it looked as though Damon had no more to say. But Elena suddenly saw that Damon's eyes had glazed over with tears that he would not shed and she felt bad for yelling at him. But then she reminded herself that Damon was only playing games it wasn't as though he had any true feelings for her.

At that precise moment Elena's doctor walked through the door. "Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I'm Doctor Montgomery," he greeted me.

"No, it's fine you didn't interrupt anything, Damon was just leaving." Elena shot Damon a 'get out of my room' look. Damon got the message and slowly stood up.

"Actually, I'd like him to stay. Nurse Jess has informed me of the situation. Damon it seems as though Elena is suffering amnesia. She can only remember her life until the age of eighteen. However, I do want to take more tests to confirm the results," Doctor Montgomery said before leaving the room to give the couple some privacy.

Throughout Doctor Montgomery's speech, Elena had once again been watching Damon, to see his reaction, for some reason it intrigued her. She saw the confusion wash through him before understanding and then he was left with sadness. She didn't know why Damon cared so much. The Damon she remembered was always threatening to snap her neck, not worrying about her.

"Why did Doctor Montgomery want you to stay in the room?" Elena asked, a million and one questions buzzing around in her head. Damon let out a long sigh.

"Huh, it looks like we have a lot to talk about." Damon sat back down on his chair, resignation clear by his stance. "Where to start?"

"How about where is Stefan?" Elena inquired.

"Will you stop talking about Stefan! Who gives a flying fuck about Stefan right now!" Damon snapped. Elena was slightly shocked by the anger dripping from Damon. "So eighteen, that's a long time ago. I'm guessing you know that you're married?" Elena nodded her head.

"Now look whose bringing up Stefan," she said cheekily. Confusion once again filled Damon's face but Elena was sure hers was probably the same.

"What? I didn't say anything about Stefan," Damon said completely puzzled.

"You asked if I knew I was married," Elena replied becoming completely perplexed herself.

"Yes, so..." It was at that moment that Elena saw clarity cross Damon's eyes. '_At least one of us understood something'. _"Elena, Stefan and you... you're no longer together," Damon accentuated whilst bitterly muttering Stefan's name.

"I don't understand, what's wrong. Are we getting a divorce? The nurse said he was here all the time though. This doesn't make any sense!"

"Elena," Damon said his patience running out quickly, "you were never married to Stefan."

"But name is Elena Salvatore," Elena replied dumbly.

"Exactly," Damon replied. This didn't help her understand anything at all what was he getting at? He was definitely holding something back.

"What is it? Just spit it out Damon!"

"Elena, you're not Stefan's wife," Damon took a large breath; "you're my wife."

* * *

Major cliff-hanger there...I must warn people that I am one of the worst updaters in the world but I really wanted to post this to see what people think. So if it takes me a while to update, please don't kill me! Reviews are more than welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Okay sorry for the wait! Here's the second chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Oh and thank you so much everyone for the reviews, they made me giddy ;)

This is the reworked version so Elena's thoughts are in quotation marks and italics.

Disclaimer: Do you really think I'd be sitting here writing this story if I could have Ian Somerhalder all to myself?

* * *

It is what it is  
I was only looking for a shortcut home  
But it's complicated  
So complicated  
We hit a wall and we can't get over it  
You said it, I get it  
I guess it is what it is  
_IT IS WHAT IT IS - LIFEHOUSE_

Time stood still. '_This was not happening. There was no way in hell this was happening_.' Elena looked at Damon waiting for him to say 'ha ha, I fooled you'. But as she looked at him all she could see was sincerity and then she knew it was true. How could she have...? Elena couldn't even finish the thought. Her life as she'd imagined was not what she had.

"What happened to Stefan?" Elena asked. She could see Damon frustrated at how once again she was enquiring about his brother.

"Great I tell you we're married and the first thing you can think to say is where is Stefan?" Damon snapped.

"Well I'm sorry if right now the only Salvatore brother I care about isn't here and the only one that is here is the one I want to get out of my room," Elena snapped back. She regretted it immediately. Damon once again went back to looking completely hurt and sad. It was weird for her to think that her comments actually had an effect on him now. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"Don't worry. Stefan's out with Bonnie. They've been dating for nearly two years. They've stopped by a couple times whilst you were unconscious," Damon explained. Elena's eyes widened... '_Stefan and Bonnie?' _ Elena couldn't wrap her head around this information, especially when she still had loving feelings towards Stefan. She looked up at Damon again.

"So... we're married," Elena said, still shocked by the revelation. She saw a small smirk work its way to Damon's face.

"Yeah," Damon replied, the smirk widening.

"How long?" she wondered.

"Nearly two years."

"Two years?" Elena repeated, shocked completely.

"Two years," Damon confirmed coolly. Elena was full of questions and she needed answers.

"When did we get together?" she asked as if it were a casual question.

"Three years and four months ago," Damon replied as if he knew it by heart and didn't have to think about it. It was ironic that had Elena only lost three years of her life she would've at least known she was dating Damon. Suddenly an earlier question flew into her head.

"Why am I not a vampire?" Elena saw Damon's face darken at the question as if he was completely opposed to the idea of making her a vampire which seemed completely absurd to her because she would've thought he'd be completely up for it.

"We discussed it many times," Damon said, "we decided that since you're still young, you could stay human."

"Until?" Elena questioned. Damon laughed emptily.

"You're still the same old Elena. We decided that you should stay human until you're 23 years old since I look about 25 years old."

"What's the date today?"

"28th February," Damon replied knowing where Elena was heading with this.

"It's my birthday in two months," Elena told him unnecessarily.

"I know, and the answer is no," Damon said matter of factly.

"Why not? If you'd made me a vampire already, this would never have happened."

"I know," Damon said sadly, "but I'm not going to do this now that you've lost your memories. Case closed," Damon said sternly. Elena decided to let it go... for now.

"Why didn't you give me some of your blood to make me better?" Elena inquired.

"I wasn't with you when you... when you got hit. So I couldn't heal you and since you were admitted to the hospital I can't give you any now because it would be too suspicious if all your bruises disappeared."

"Well why don't you give me blood once I'm released and then I'll get my memories back?" Elena asked.

"It's not as easy as that Elena. I can't heal brain abnormalities. I can heal all your other wounds though. It's like me giving blood to someone who has a mental disorder, I can't fix the disorder. The brain is strictly off limits. I can't give back your memories, no matter how much I wish I could," Damon explained thoroughly.

"Oh." It was all Elena could say. At that moment Doctor Montgomery came back into the room.

"Well Mrs Salvatore, it seems that our diagnosis earlier was correct. You do have short term memory loss and so unfortunately the only way to get your memories back is through stimulating and exercising your brain. There is still a possibility you will regain your memories." It felt weird to Elena being referred to as 'Mrs Salvatore', '_at least he wasn't calling me 'Mrs Damon Salvatore'_.

"Other than this major injury, you seem to be healing well. You have two broken ribs and many bruises covering your body but the good news is that we will be able to release you in a few hours. So Damon, you may go home and get Elena's things ready so that she can go home with you."

"Sure," Damon replied.

"Oh, she is staying with you right? We cannot release her unless she has a home with someone else to stay with."

"Yes, she'll stay with me," Damon replied. Elena could feel herself getting angry. '_How can Damon decide for me what I'm going to do?'_

"Well that's good she needs an environment which will stimulate her memories." With that said, Doctor Montgomery left.

"I'm going to go get you a change of clothes so that we can go home," Damon said waiting for a reply. Elena didn't reply since she was still angry at him.

* * *

Once Damon left, she was left to her thoughts. '_Who did Damon think he was, deciding everything without my consent? Who cares if he's my husband? We'll probably be getting a divorce soon anyway'. _That being said Elena didn't understand how it was that a few weeks ago she was in love with him. It just didn't feel possible. Had Damon compelled her to love him? Elena looked down at her neck and noticed that she didn't have her vervain necklace. No it was not possible, neither Stefan nor Bonnie would ever let it get this far if she didn't love Damon truly.

Suddenly another thought entered her brain. She must've had sex with Damon. '_Oh God I thought I was going to hurl. We were married for God's sake, there is no way in hell that we haven't had sex. He's seen me naked. This just keeps getting worse. He's touched me intimately. Oh dear God, I've touched him intimately.'_ It wasn't that Damon wasn't good looking, even Elena couldn't deny that, but his nature of killing innocent people was a complete turn off that even thinking about having sex with Damon made her feel sick to the core. Before she could stay on this track of thought, Damon came back and he had a bag, undoubtedly filled with her clothes.

"Hey. How are you?" Damon asked softly, walking towards the bedside chair and sitting down. Elena shifted herself so that she was facing him.

"I'm okay. The pain meds are still working for me, but, I have to say that I'm glad to get out of here. It's so boring!" Elena complained, deciding to let go of her anger. It felt weird seeing Damon concerned for her and it made her realise what a bitch she was being. Elena wasn't considering any of Damon's feelings.

"Well, the doctor moved up your release time to six, so you'll have one less hour of boredom."

"That's good. I don't know how much longer I can take this." Elena joked, glancing down at the bag that was in Damon's hands. "My clothes?"

"Oh! Yeah, here. Better than a hospital gown. But I do like the exposure of the back," Damon commented, watching as a shade of red worked its way to Elena's face before handing the bag to her. "I'll let you get dressed," he added, standing up.

What happened next shocked both Damon and Elena a little bit. For once, she did something impulsive.

"Damon, wait! Don't go." Elena said, and Damon turned around in surprise. She couldn't help the blush that was deepening on her face and she could tell that Damon noticed it.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked, still standing in the middle of the room. His blue eyes pierced into hers, taking her breath away momentarily.

"Well," Elena began her explanation by looking at his feet. It wasn't just to make him feel better. She really did need help with this particular aspect of daily living and she wasn't up for having the annoying nurse come back in and help her. "God, I know this sounds really weird, but…_I can't get dressed by myself,_" Elena mumbled quickly, unable to look Damon in the eyes.

"Oh." Damon's response was actually kind of cute. She looked up at him, and could tell how uncomfortable he was with the situation. It was strange since she would've thought he'd jump at the situation. Elena guessed Damon was really different to how she remembered him. But then she noticed the smirk work its way back to face and she realised that hesitance he had seconds before was gone and now he was perfectly fine with the idea of helping her dress. Elena couldn't help the small smile she felt at knowing that Damon was still Damon, just a little different sometimes. More caring – a good change.

"I'm sorry Damon. It's just my shirt, because of my ribs and all. Would you mind helping me?" Elena asked, suddenly feeling self conscious. She had a lot of bruises from the accident, and didn't look too great to the eye. And the more she thought about it, the more idiotic she thought she was for mentioning it. He had seen her naked before, even if she couldn't remember it, but this time she would have awful purpley blue bruises scarring her body.

What had gotten into her? Letting a man, scratch that vampire who she could only remember despising help her get dressed? She knew that she still had a bra on, but please!

"Of course." Damon mumbled, and then strolled over to the bag of clothing. He got out a white shirt, and then looked over at her. Elena swung her legs over so she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Damon willed himself to be strong about this. He had to remember that the Elena in front of him wasn't his "wife". This was the Elena he had terrorised when he arrived in Mystic Falls, the one who loathed him for turning her friend Vicki, into a vampire and threatened repeatedly.

Damon set the shirt on the bed, and glanced toward the door to make sure it was closed.

"Well, I can't lift my left arm too high, and my right arm has a broken wrist." Elena giggled, catching Damon's attention. "This is going to be a challenge, isn't it?"

There was something about Damon that made Elena let down her walls a tiny little bit despite the fact that she knew she still had feelings towards his brother. '_This was so complicated!'_ The fact that Damon was being relatively charming and considerate made Elena feel slightly different about him. Elena wasn't able to explain it, but it was more comforting seeing him not threatening to kill her.

"Yes it will. Well, let's just see what happens." Damon gave Elena an encouraging, genuine grin. Elena removed her dressing gown, surprising Damon by the fact that she already had her jeans on.

"I scooted into them. It takes talent." Elena smiled, suddenly forgetting that she was meant to despise Damon. Well technically she wasn't meant to despise him, she was meant to love him.

Damon let out a laugh. Elena lifted her left arm as high as it could go, and relaxed her right arm. Damon slowly moved her t-shirt over her head and Elena began to put her arm into it when she sucked in a quick breath, taking Damon off guard. He stopped.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worry covering his face.

Elena grinned reassuringly, "Yeah. Your hands are just a little cold," she said, watching as Damon shifted uncomfortably. In that moment she realised that Damon would continually surprise her for the rest of her life.

"Sorry about that. I haven't had any coffee yet to warm them up," he said, and continued to help Elena with her shirt.

Elena watched at how delicate Damon treated her. She had to admit it was reassuring, the fact that he was gentle. '_Maybe this marriage thing wasn't just me going crazy for a couple years.'_

Elena smiled at the fact that Damon hadn't let his eyes wander to her chest once. She was genuinely surprised. She could see that it was taking great effort, but he succeeded, and her shirt was fully on. Elena wondered how it would work out when she would need help changing her bra the next time but then she remembered that they'd be home by then and Stefan could heal her with his blood. Elena let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Damon." Damon nodded his head stoically, his thoughts elsewhere. "I was genuinely surprised that you didn't let your eyes go wandering."

"It's nothing I haven't seen before, Elena," Damon replied winking at Elena, making her blush once again. She knew that Damon was deflecting from the fact that she didn't want him to be looking at her breasts.

"Also, thank you for not commenting on my bruises." Elena cast her eyes downwards in embarrassment. Normally she wouldn't be bothered by the fact that she looked horrible with her bruises but for some irrational reason she wanted to look good for Damon, for her husband.

"Hey, hey." Damon whispered, lifting Elena's chin up so he could look her in the eyes. "You're beautiful just the way you are. I didn't even notice the bruises, Elena." His voice was somewhat soothing, but she suddenly realized how close they were. She began to get uncomfortable. Just because she didn't despise Damon quite so much did not mean she was willing to have his lips inches from hers.

"Thanks." Elena said quietly, and looked away. Damon saw this and let out a sigh. He had believed they were getting somewhere, but in reality they weren't.

* * *

So what do you think? Did you like it/hate it? Tell me in your review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N I am the worst updater ever I know... but in my defense I've been having GCSEs, 25 exams... still 2 to go but I promise to try and do better, especially now that I'm about to start my 10 week Summer after next week!

Basically I've rewritten the first three chapters into third person because it was in Elena's POV but I realised I couldn't explore Damon's actions if it was written that way so if there are a few mistakes where it says 'I' for Elena, I'm sorry! Anyway here is a slightly longer chapter to make up for my uselessness! I hope you enjoy it! Oh and thank you so much to everyone for the awesome reviews!

Oh, just something else, I didn't really say what episode was the last Elena remembered. It is 1x15, after like Elena found out about Damon turning Isobel etc... although I don't think that I will pursue that storyline. So Elena and Damon aren't close friends like they are at the end of season 1.

Disclaimer: Nope I still haven't stolen The Vampire Diaries away from Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson yet... but I'll still keep trying.

* * *

Is it too late to remind you how we were  
You could be happy, I hope you are  
You made me happier than I'd been by far  
And for the tiniest moment it's all not true  
_YOU COULD BE HAPPY – SNOW PATROL_

Elena was so glad to get out of the hospital; it felt more like a prison. She and Damon sat in the car listening to some rock song that had been released recently and obviously that meant she didn't know it. Elena blanked out for the rest of the ride that was silent, neither of them knowing what to say.

They arrived at the boarding house and Elena was glad to know they lived there, still in Mystic Falls where Jenna and Jeremy were, and maybe even Stefan was staying with them. For a moment, she wondered why no one had visited her yet... probably want to give her some space, she thought. Elena slowly hobbled out of the car. Damon was by her side helping her within nanoseconds. It still felt weird to Elena seeing Damon so caring and loving, but even she had to admit that despite the difference in personality, it didn't feel wrong at all and he was still Damon, the same but different. Elena was giving herself a headache trying to figure Damon out.

Damon picked up his bags and entered the house in his rapid, vampire pace so that by the time Elena entered the house the bags were nowhere in sight.

"So, we live in the boarding house?" Elena asked.

"No kidding, Einstein," Damon replied in a tone signaling that she had asked a stupid question. Elena rolled her eyes but she couldn't stop the slight smile that crossed her face at his comment. It was nice to see he hadn't changed completely and that he was still as witty as ever. For a second, she thought she might have sucked all of the Damon out of him to make him Stefan number two.

"Do we live here alone?" Elena asked hesitantly. Damon froze; he knew what she was really asking, does Stefan still live with us?

"Stefan and Bonnie live here too," Damon replied, his voice hard. Elena's heart clenched, she didn't know how she was going to face seeing Stefan and Bonnie together as a couple. She pictured them kissing and she couldn't stop herself from flinching. Damon was watching Elena like a hawk and Elena noticed his face turned into a grimace, like he knew what she was thinking.

"I know, you hate parties and things, but your friends wanted us to meet them at Mystic Grill to celebrate you getting better. I made them promise to make sure that it was just your close friends," Damon said sincerely. It felt strange to Elena to know that Damon knew her so well; he knew that she didn't like to be the centre of attention; he knew she liked the company of her close friends. Her thoughts drifted to how he probably knew what she liked in bed. Elena's face turned a shade of red and she couldn't stop herself blushing as her train of thoughts led to a visual image. She looked up at Damon's face to see a knowing smirk on his face. How could he know what she was thinking?

"Er, yeah sure. I guess it would be nice to see them," Elena said plastering a smile on her face. As she turned to leave, she felt Damon grab her arm and pull her back. She flinched slightly at the contact and he immediately let go. His expression was indecipherable.

"Would you like me to heal your bruises with my blood?" Damon asked tentatively. Elena didn't know what to say. How was she supposed to say that she didn't want him anywhere near her as despite the fact that he was her husband, all her instincts were blaring at her to not trust him. But she knew she couldn't say it, as although she had absolutely no loving feelings towards Damon, that didn't mean that she wanted to hurt his feelings. Yes, he annoyed her to no end... at least he used to. But she knew that he loved her, he must have, otherwise he would never have married her. Elena wasn't ruthless – it wasn't in her nature. Elena really wished that she could ask Stefan to do it but she knew she had to suck it up and let Damon heal her, after all he was her husband and for that reason she needed to learn to trust him.

Damon sensed the hesitance radiating off Elena and his face hardened. "You know what, its fine if you don't". With that, he walked past Elena to get to the door but she grabbed his arm and tugged at it, to get him to turn around.

"No, it's okay," Elena exclaimed, not understanding why she was suddenly forcing the subject when seconds earlier, she was desperately hoping that Damon was not asking her what she knew he was asking her.

Damon's face softened and she could see the love seep back into his eyes. She silently wondered how the hell she had turned the self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities into a sweet and loving vampire. That thought scared her more than anything. Elena realised that she meant a lot to Damon and it scared her to the core because she saw the way he looked when he realised that Katherine wasn't in the tomb and that Katherine certainly didn't love Damon back the way he loved her. Elena was scared that history would repeat itself, under different circumstances. As much as she couldn't see Damon and her working, she never wanted to see that look of despair on his face, especially not with her being the reason it was there. Elena took a deep breath; she had to try harder to make them work. Elena realised that she had to let go of her feelings for Stefan, and move on to rediscover whatever she had with Damon.

Elena looked at Damon to see his face change so that his vampire visage came out. She had never been this close to Damon when he looked like the creature he truly was, well at least not from what she remembered. If she didn't know that he wasn't going to kill her, she could totally see why people would scream bloody murder and run for their lives. But with the knowledge that he would never intentionally hurt her, Elena could only see the beauty within his vampire countenance. His eyes and the veins under them were so mysterious that it drew her in and the fangs were impressive.

Damon slowly brought his wrist up to his mouth and used his fangs to pierce through his skin and draw out his blood. Damon then moved forward into Elena's personal space and placed the arm that was not bleeding onto her hip to keep her steady. Elena stiffened at the contact as her heart rate quickened and her breaths became deeper. Having Damon so close to her was making her feel flustered. Damon then lifted his wrist to her mouth and gave her one command 'drink'. Elena looked into his beautiful, piercing blue eyes to see genuine concern hidden in them, and she knew that even if she didn't love him at this moment, she could trust him; trust him to be patient with her, trust him to not force her into doing something she didn't want and trust him to not hurt her.

Elena slowly place her lips around Damon's bleeding wrist, and a fleeting thought crossed her mind. '_Damon's skin feel so nice and soft against my lips'. _That was until the blood entered her mouth and started sliding down her throat and then all she could think about was how familiar his blood felt in her mouth. The more she thought about it, the more Damon's blood tasted better and she couldn't stop the moan that escaped her lips at how sensual drinking Damon's blood felt. Elena peered through her eyelashes to see Damon's smirk plastered loyally back on his face. As much as she wanted to wipe the smirk off his face, Elena couldn't tear his wrist away from her. But she felt Damon tug his arm and she knew that she had had enough to heal her body. Elena slowly pulled away but not before using her tongue to lick all the blood from his wrist as his skin began to heal.

It was now Damon's turn to moan at the feeling of Elena's tongue slowly but sensually licking his wrist. Damon stepped even closer to Elena and wrapped his arm fully around Elena in order to keep them both balanced.

Damon was struggling not grab Elena's face and plaster his lips to hers.

Elena looked up and could see Damon was struggling to stop himself from kissing her and she knew she had to pull away as she was nowhere near ready to take that step. Right now, she was more confused than ever. Elena didn't loathe Damon, but she wasn't even sure if she liked him and doing these things that a husband and wife should be able to do freely felt wrong and right at the same time. '_I really needed to take a paracetamol'._

As Elena moved away, she kept her eyes firmly on the ground, unable to look at Damon. After a couple seconds, Elena looked up to see Damon with a far-away gaze.

Elena cleared her throat. "Do we do that often?" she asked hesitantly, not knowing if she really wanted to know the answer.

"Do what?" Damon asked carefully, his eyes scrunching up in mild interest.

"You know, do I often drink your blood or am I just prone to getting hurt, because that felt familiar."

Damon smirked, his eyes lighting up slightly at what she said. "Elena, we share blood a lot, it can be the equivalent to a sexual experience. We do it often during sex." Elena could not stop herself turning beetroot red. She should have known Damon wouldn't mind talking about sex but it still felt foreign to Elena and earlier images that had crossed her mind of them having sex came back. Before, Elena could embarrass herself further she picked up on something Damon said.

"Share blood? As in..." Elena questioned.

Damon looked at her a little confused at her confusion, "as in, I drink your blood and you drink mine." Damon had never seen anyone's eyes come out of their sockets but he was fairly sure Elena's had.

"What?" Elena screeched.

"What what?" Damon replied, laughing at what he had said.

"I let you drink my blood... willingly?" Elena asked, still slightly shocked.

Damon nodded his head slowly as if he was talking to a two-year old. "Yes."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Elena asked tentatively.

Damon was more confused than ever. "Why would that be dangerous?"

"Well, you might lose control and then things would get... bloody" Elena said ironically.

Damon stared at Elena for a couple seconds and Elena thought he may not reply before he stepped forward and cupped her right cheek with his right hand. "Elena, I'm going to tell you something that you're probably not going to be used to me telling you so just bare with me'. Elena nodded her head mutely. "There is no way in hell I would ever lose control, I'm not Stefan, I can control my bloodlust," Elena smiled at the irony that this would be the one case in which she could trust Damon more than Stefan. "Even more important, is that I could never lose control around you because I love you." Elena froze at the words; she knew that that was how he felt but him saying them to her made it all the more real. "I know I probably shouldn't be saying something like this, because it will scare you off but I need you to know that I'm going to fight for you. I love you so god-damn much and I will not lose you". Elena did not know what to say, but she felt slightly moved by what Damon had said. Thankfully she didn't have to say anything as Damon moved back and the mood changed as Damon almost pretended like the moment didn't exist. And Elena was glad to join in on the ignorance.

"Right, so you should grab your coat so that we can make our way to the Grill" Damon said walking past Elena and out the front door. Elena remained rooted in her spot before shaking the errant thoughts out of her brain and hurrying after Damon. Whilst grabbing her coat she quickly ripped off all her bandages and noticed she no longer had any bruises along her stomach.

As she caught up, she realised that they would be walking all the way there. Suddenly a thought entered Elena's brain. Elena grabbed Damon's hand to stop him.

"Wait, Damon. Won't they all be wondering how I suddenly healed?" Damon gave Elena a small smile.

"Elena, they all know I'm a vampire." Elena's eyes widened.

"What?"

"You didn't think we could hide this from them for four years, did you?" Damon asked before continuing to walk as Elena tried to keep at his pace.

"Wait, so Jeremy and Aunt Jenna know?" Elena asked, still shocked.

"Yep," Damon said popping the 'p'. "And Matt, Caroline, Bonnie, Alaric and Tyler know." Elena's eyes widened even further.

"Why would Aunt Jenna let me marry you, if she knew you were a vampire?" Elena asked confused. Damon chuckled sourly.

"Let's put it this way. When you want to do something, there is no way of stopping you." Elena was slightly puzzled by the response but decided to let it go.

"Wait, why does Tyler know? We're not really close."

"Long story, basically Tyler is a werewolf and he helps us sometimes when there are... problems."

"Whoa... I was not expecting that. Werewolf? Jesus... he hasn't hurt anyone has he?" Elena asked, buzzing with questions.

"No, Tyler has werewolf friends that help him keep in line, although he once bit Caroline but who can blame him... she can talk anyone's ear off, but she is a tasty meal." Elena shoved Damon as hard as she could but he didn't budge and Elena sighed in defeat.

"That's one of my best friends Damon," Elena said sternly whilst Damon rolled his eyes.

Elena could see the Grill in her line of sight and she was glad she would have someone else to talk to. She needed to find out what the hell had driven her into Damon's arms. But at the same time she dreaded having to see Stefan.

"Hey Damon, when did you become popular amongst my friends?" Elena asked, wondering why he was going to hang out with them. Damon simply rolled his eyes in response and held the door open for Elena to enter their hangout place.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this! I promise to try harder to update. It helps when I get reviews... hint hint.

Oh and please follow me on twitter at: .com/Abilasa


	4. Chapter 4

A/N I'm a fail, I know. I'm truly sorry for my pathetic attempts at updating. But I hope you enjoy this anyway! Oh, and thank you very much for all the reviews!

Please follow me on twitter at: .com/Abilasa :)

* * *

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry  
You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you  
Tell you I need you  
Tell you I set apart

Tell me your secrets  
And ask me your questions  
Oh, lets go back to the start  
_THE SCIENTIST - COLDPLAY_

Elena walked into the Grill bracing herself for the next few hours. Everything was going to be different.

As soon as she stepped in she was pounced on by a number of people all giving her one massive hug. Elena couldn't stop the grin that graced her face at feeling loved by her friends and family. Bonnie drove into the middle and grabbed Elena's hand and dragged her out from the middle of the group.

"Move over guys, you're going to suffocate her!" Bonnie yelled joyfully. Everyone stepped back, worried they may have actually hurt Elena.

"Don't worry guys, I'm fine," Elena exclaimed as Bonnie continued to drag her until they reached the table. Everyone sat down around Elena but it was only then that Elena noticed that Damon was missing. She quickly scanned the Grill before her eyes landed on his figure downing a drink at the bar... alone. Before Elena could do anything about it, she was bombarded with questions.

"Slow down! I can't hear anything you guys are saying when you speak at the same time. Anyway, shouldn't it be me asking all of you questions?" Elena asked, lifting one eyebrow questioningly. There was a chorus of mumbled sorrys that once again brought the smile back to Elena's face. '_I had forgotten how much they could all make me smile, since I've been so buried in the angst between me and Damon.' _This thought reminded Elena that Damon was still at the bar. She turned her head to see he was still drinking but she noticed that his head was slightly turned in her direction and he had a small smile on his face. '_He's probably listening in on the conversation, but why isn't he here?'_

Before Elena could ponder any longer on this, Stefan asked if she was alright. Elena froze; she hadn't noticed that Stefan was with them, in the flurry of what had been happening since she came into the Grill she had not had time to process his presence. Elena stayed frozen, looking into Stefan's gaze. From the corner of her eye, she could see Bonnie shifting uncomfortably and so she tore her eyes away from Stefan. She noticed the drink that had just arrived in front of her and quickly pretended to busy herself with it. The mood had become awkward, no one knowing what to say.

"So, Elena. I'm guessing you're most excited to find out what has happened to me in the last four years!" Caroline exclaimed, grinning. _'Trust Caroline to break any silence' _Elena smiled, grateful that Caroline was there. "I'm engaged!" Caroline said smiling whilst waving her finger. Before Elena could respond Matt cut in.

"Way to make a guy feel involved Care. You could've at least said 'Matt and I are engaged'" Matt said in a convincing high-pitched Caroline voice. Elena giggled at their banter.

"Congratulations guys. That is great news," Elena said, genuinely happy for her friends.

"Oh me next, me next! I can top them," Aunt Jenna said excitedly. "Alaric and I are married," Jenna said to Elena. Elena's eyes widened. "Wow, married... that's huge news!" Elena exclaimed.

"That's not that huge, you're married too!" Caroline said to Elena before realising her mistake and placing her hands over her mouth, whilst her eyes widened. Once again, silence fell on the group of people, no-one knowing how to move on.

"Awkward," Tyler said entering the Grill. Elena hadn't noticed that he wasn't there. "Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in... something," Tyler ended lamely. "It's great to see you alive, Elena," Tyler said whilst hugging her. Elena was a little shocked by the gesture, having never hugged Tyler before... well not from what she remembered but she welcomed it.

"Well it's great to see you Tyler," Elena replied as Tyler took a seat next to Matt. "So what about you Jeremy, married or engaged?" Elena asked sarcastically. Jeremy's eyes widened.

"NO! I mean no. Just dating," Jeremy said.

"Anyone I know... I mean knew four years ago?" Elena asked.

"Err yeah," Jeremy replied. Elena raised her eyebrows as if to ask who. "Err Anna." Elena's eyes filled with confusion as shook her head before sudden realisation dawned on her.

"Anna, the vampire who kidnapped me and Bonnie?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"Err, yeah. But she's not like that Elena, I promise. You guys get on really well now." Jeremy explained. Elena gave him an unconvinced look but let it go. Elena turned her head to see whether the next person was in a relationship but her eyes landed on Stefan and Bonnie and once again there was silence amongst the group of friends.

Before the awkward silence dragged on for too long, Damon appeared behind Elena.

"Hello ladies," Damon said giving them a wink. Elena noticed the glares Caroline, Jenna and Bonnie gave him.

"Since when have I been a girl?" Tyler asked amused.

"Since you didn't bother to come greet me Ty," Damon responded. Elena noticed that Tyler and Damon seemed to be bantering, _'do they like each other?' I mean Damon did call him Ty.'_

"Well then, how about a game of pool to make up for it?" Tyler requested.

"As long, as you don't mind getting your ass handed to you again," Damon replied without missing a beat.

"Dream on Salvatore!" Tyler bit back as they walked off to the pool table, leaving Elena even more confused.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom, Caroline, Bonnie, feel like coming?" Elena stressed signalling that no was not an answer as they needed to have a serious chat.

"Oki doki," Caroline replied as she, Bonnie and Elena got up.

As soon as they entered the restroom Elena turned towards them hysterically.

"I'm freaking out guys! Nothing makes any sense... everything is wrong but it doesn't feel wrong. I feel so confused and I don't understand how you guys could have let this happen!" Elena cried out.

Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "I understand completely why you are freaking out... I mean I could never understand what it feels like to lose your memory of the past few years, but I don't understand how Caroline and I could have stopped your accident from happening."

Elena sighed, "that's not what I meant. I was trying to say, how could you let me get married to Damon?"

Caroline sighed even heavier than Elena, "believe me we tried Elena. You weren't having it. We told you hundreds of times that Damon was no good and that you deserve so much better, but you had your mind made up that Damon was the one; you were adamant." Elena cast her eyes downwards in shame over her stupid actions.

"Besides, we would never have left you married him if we weren't sure that it was what you wanted or that Damon would not treat you right," Bonnie sympathised. Elena smiled at the reassurance but in the back of her mind she couldn't stop a tiny thought from niggling at her: _'what if she only felt that way because she wanted me out of the way in order to have Stefan?' _Elena was entirely disappointed with herself for having such thoughts about her best friend.

"Personally, I'm glad we don't have to witness anymore PDA from you two. The amount you guys made out in public was just unreal," Caroline added. Elena's eyebrows rose at this comment; she had never been a huge fan of PDA and it surprised her that over the course of her relationship with Damon, that had changed.

"But hey, if you don't feel that way about Damon anymore, I guess you could just leave him. What's the point in staying with him now, if you no longer have those feelings for him?" Caroline asked. Elena didn't know what to say but she was surprised by the defensive feeling rising in her. Elena looked towards Bonnie who was struggling on whether to agree with Caroline or not, but Elena knew her well. Elena knew what Bonnie felt, Bonnie agreed with Caroline but her priorities lied with Stefan now, and so she couldn't say anything that would potentially lead to the destruction of her boyfriend's brother.

"Do you guys mind giving me a couple minutes alone?" Elena stated with conviction that it couldn't be made out as a question.

"Sure," Caroline said as both her and Bonnie left.

Elena stared at her reflection in the mirror as she went over the words that were spoken in the restroom, but she was giving herself a headache. _'I need to go home and rest... I'm too tired for this'_.

As Elena exited the restroom she spotted Damon at the bar sipping on his ever present beverage: scotch. Elena smiled '_some things never change'._ Her smile did not last long as it was completely wiped off her face when a tall leggy gorgeous blonde walked up to Damon and started flirting with him. Elena thought her head was going to explode from the fury bubbling up in her. '_Damon is gonna flirt with this slut in front of my friends. What the hell was going through my head when I married him!'_ Elena was seeing red as she saw the blonde brush her arm along Damon's bicep whilst using the other arm to push Damon's chest and laugh her head off at something he said. Elena had had enough. She marched over to the bar to give Damon and his blonde pet a piece of her mind. What she hadn't noticed was that Damon was not overly pleased by the blondes attempt to win.

"Listen blondie, whatever your name is. This is the last time I repeat myself. I'm extremely happily married and I have absolutely no interest in you. My wife is perfect," Damon said sharply whilst waggling his ring finger. Elena felt the smile come back to her face. However, she didn't miss the flash of sadness pass through his face but it was gone as quickly as she had seen it. She was wrong about Damon, he had changed. Maybe she should give him a chance.

It was at that moment Damon felt Elena's presence and looked in her direction. He smiled sweetly and it made Elena's heart skip a beat. "You ready to go?" It was as though he had read Elena's mind.

"Yes," Elena said resisting the urge to say 'baby' after her response. They walked back to where the others were still chatting.

"Hey guys, I'm feeling quite tired so Damon and I are going to head back to the boarding house," Elena informed.

"Oh, Bonnie and I will join you then," Stefan added. Elena forced a smile and bid farewell to others.

* * *

The walk back to the boarding house was awkward to say the least. There was a little small talk but mainly just awkward silences. Elena noticed that Damon never said a word and she didn't know what made her do it, but she found herself intertwining Damon's and her hands. She smiled as she saw his eyes light up at the little contact, glad to see him just the slightest bit happier. Plus, she felt a good sense of electricity run up and down her hand at the contact.

When they entered the boarding house, Damon and Elena's hands separated and Stefan and Bonnie bid them goodnight before heading to their bedroom. Knowing they slept in the same bed made Elena feel sick to the stomach.

Damon made a beeline towards his drinks as Elena stood in the parlour feeling awkward and out of place. She walked to where Damon was and stopped in front of him.

Damon raised one eyebrow whilst bringing his drink to his mouth. "Yes?"

"You're wearing your ring," Elena stated bluntly.

"Well, yes. Otherwise I'll burn in the sun!" Damon replied sarcastically.

"Not that ring," Elena replied knowing Damon knew what ring she was talking about in the first place.

"Well, you're still my wife, even if you don't remember how it happened," Damon said with a hint of sadness escaping. He pulled out a necklace he'd hidden underneath his shirt and took it off. Attached to the necklace were two rings. "These are yours; you don't need to wear it if you don't want to." Damon placed the rings in Elena's hands.

"Thanks," Elena replied, not knowing what else to say. She turned towards the stairs but was stopped when Damon appeared in front of her using his vampire speed and making her jump.

"You can have our bedroom. I'll sleep in one of the guest rooms," Damon stated.

"Thanks," Elena once again repeated. "Goodnight Damon," she whispered.

"Goodnight Elena," Damon whispered back before leaning forward and placing a light feather-like kiss on her cheek.

Elena pushed past Damon not wanting him to see the blush that had appeared on her face after a simple, small kiss on the cheek. Elena did not know how but she somehow found her feet guiding her to the right room, even though she had no memory of where or what Damon's room looked like. But as she entered, she was taken away by its beauty. It was not like Stefan's at all. It was the most spacious bedroom she'd ever seen and certainly the most beautiful one as well. She could see all the feminine touches she brought to the room such as the deep purple curtains and the jewellery and make up scattered around the ensuite. However, she could also see all of Damon's touches, such as the widescreen television on the wall and the gigantic bed that seemed to welcome Elena.

But what caught her eye, were the many photos that lined the room. All of them were of her and Damon and the other common factor in all of them was that they looked happy. Elena walked towards the bed and picked up the photo by the nightstand. It was a close up photo of the two of them on their wedding day and they were staring into eyes others eyes with the biggest smiles on their faces. The photo made Elena's heart constrict. It was breathtaking. Elena finally broke eye contact with the photo and took to getting ready for bed. It had been a long and stressful day and the bed was alluring her to much needed sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N There are no words to describe my absence from fanfiction writing for over a year. I have avidly continued to reader other writers' work but I really lost my muse when it came to writing my own stories. I'm sorry for upsetting you all with not continuing this story. I still absolutely adore Delena and until I no longer do, I will be writing this story… even if it takes me 10 years to do! I just hope you can hang on and enjoy this story anyway despite this. The story of my life is exams and I Have 5 A2 level exams this January but I promise to try hard to keep on top of this story and post as often as I can. I know it's hard to believe me but I promise to do my best. Also be gentle with me, I'm easing back into this and so my writing style isn't great in this chapter. Oh and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

* * *

Elena woke up to the Sun seeping through the windows; she'd forgotten to close the curtains before going to bed. She sat up and turned her head towards the nightstand next to the bed. Her engagement and wedding rings lay in the middle of the nightstand. Elena continued to stare at it for a few moments before deciding to reach across and grab them. She held the beautiful rings in her hand looking at the fine details that made them look completely unique. Trying not to overthink things, Elena slipped the rings onto her ring finger. '_Perfect fit'._

Elena held up her hand towards the light that had been seeping through and stared at her hand. A wave of familiarisation passed through her. The rings looked like they belonged on her fingers. It was for that reason she decided that she wouldn't take them off.

Elena jumped out of bed, not being able to handle the loneliness she felt being in the huge room. She rummaged through the wardrobe and grabbed what she assumed was her silk robe and wrapped it around herself before speedily leaving the room.

As she made her way to the kitchen she stopped in her tracks noticing that a topless Damon was already there, sitting on the counter.

Before Elena could contemplate running back up to her room, Damon saw her.

"You hungry?" he called. Elena's stomach replied growling loudly and making Damon chuckle. "You're cereals are in the top left cupboard… unless you want me to fry you something?" Damon asked.

"No, cereal is good," Elena replied, not wanting to hassle Damon. An awkward silence fell amongst the two as Elena made her bowl of cereals and Damon continued to drink from his mug – undoubtedly filled with warm blood. Elena could hardly look at Damon, his chest was so smooth that she knew if she looked at Damon for too long. She would have to run her hands up and down his chest. Elena definitely felt attracted to Damon, but lust was not love.

"So… do you have any plans today?" Damon asked casually.

"No," Elena replied succinctly. Damon rolled his eyes at her short answer. How was he supposed to work with that?

"Maybe we could spend the day together? So that we can talk and you can get to know me again… ask me any questions you have…" Damon trailed off. Elena froze at the suggestion feeling caught in a crossroad between what she wanted to do and what she should do. All she wanted to do was sit in bed and cry about her messed up life but she knew it would be a waste of time. The only chance she had of getting back the four years of her life that she lost would be by continuing to live her life. _'Damon is putting himself out there for me. I can't shut him down.'_

"Sure. That sounds good," Elena answered, giving Damon a small smile before continuing to munch on her cereals. Damon returned the small smile his eyes lighting up at the prospect of alone time with Elena. Both Elena and Damon moved towards the sink to clean their bowl and mug.

It was then that Damon noticed something that made him smile once again. "You're wearing your rings." It wasn't a question; simply a statement. Yet Elena still felt the need to explain herself.

"Yeah, they're just really pretty and so I thought it would be a waste to not have them on," Elena lied through her teeth. _'I'm not completely lying, they are gorgeous!' _There was no way to explain to Damon why she was wearing the rings, Elena herself had no idea what possessed her to wear them, how was she supposed to tell Damon?

"Uh huh," Damon replied, clearly not believing her.

Elena was saved from the embarrassment of an awkward moment by the arrival of Stefan.

"Morning!" Stefan said cheerfully.

"Looks like someone ate a few too many rabbits this morning," Damon drawled.

"Ha ha very funny. Can't some of us just be happy?" Stefan asked.

"Some of us can. You can't. You're broody self just cannot physically allow you to have fun; besides that, how can you have fun when bitchy witchy is your girlfriend?" Damon saw out the corner of his eyes how Elena flinched slightly at the mention of Stefan and Bonnie's relationship.

"Don't call her that," Stefan snapped. He then decided it would be best to ignore his brother's existence for a while before his annoyance towards him calmed down. "Elena, it's good to see you looking healthier than when I visited you in the hospital. I'm sorry we didn't really get a chance to catch up at the Grill last night but there were just so many of our friends around," Stefan explained. Elena nodded her head, not having much to say in reply. "Would you like to spend the day with me? You know, so we can catch up and I can fill you in on what's been happening." Stefan questioned.

Elena looked towards Damon as soon as the question came out of Stefan's mouth and could see Damon's electric blue eyes flash and his jaw tighten. He was not pleased by Stefan's eagerness to spend time with Elena. He trusted his brother but with Elena's feelings being very different to what they were last month, he no longer felt safe having Elena spend quality time with Stefan when she clearly had strong feelings for him… again.

Elena too felt conflicted over what was going on._ 'This is my first real test. Stefan or Damon?' _When she thought about it, it was actually the easiest decision to make. "Actually Stefan I'm busy today. Damon and I are gonna catch up and he's going to fill me in on what I've missed. He'll know more, you know with him being my h-husband," Elena hesitated over the word but knew she had to get used to it. She wasn't going to spend her days wallowing. She was facing reality. Stefan was no longer hers. "Maybe some other day."

Damon's expression didn't change on the outside but on the inside he was filled with glee. Elena referred to him as her husband and told Stefan to stick it… sort of.

"Oh, okay no worries." Elena saw some unknown feeling flash through his eyes but before she had to discover what it was Stefan was backing out the door. "I'll see you guys later."

"So, where do you want to go?" Damon asked Elena.

"I don't know. You're the one who remembers Mystic Falls over the last four years! Surprise me," Elena said smiling. "I'm going to go get changed. We can leave straight after?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Damon agreed.

* * *

"Of all the places you could think to take me, you chose the park?" Elena asked indignantly with one eyebrow raised. She was clearly not impressed with his choice.

"Yes," Damon replied still smiling despite Elena's clear lack of excitement. He moved to sit underneath the large oak tree in the centre of the park. He tapped the patch of grass next to him signalling Elena to sit beside him.

"Aren't you going to explain why the park?" Elena asked taking up the place next to him.

Damon looked ahead as though he was looking in the distance as he replied, "I chose the park, because it's the one place that definitely hasn't changed very much over the last four years. Besides, we've had some great memories here. I was hoping the surrounding may jog your memory." Elena nodded, realising that Damon had his reasons for taking her there.

"So, wanna give me some more shocking news that will give me a heart attack?" Elena joked. Damon smiled at her attempts to keep the mood light and yet get down to business.

"I don't know where to start," Damon answered honestly. He looked at Elena but Elena had to turn her head away. His look was so passionate and definitely the look of a man in love. Elena could feel the blush spreading through her skin. _'How can he do this to me with just one look? He's looking at me like he's seen me naked. Oh yeah that's right Elena, he has!'_

"How about the day after Bonnie's birthday party?" Elena suggested, pretending that a patch of grass looked very interesting.

Damon rolled his eyes, "I don't really remember when that was! It's not like the witch and I are best friends. What's the last thing you remember about us?" Damon asked, trying to get a better understanding of the last time Elena remembered them being together.

"Erm… me hugging you after you discovered that Katherine was no longer in the tomb."

"Oh," Damon whispered, "I didn't realise it was that long ago. It feels like a lifetime ago that I was pining over Katherine." Damon turned towards Elena and his electric blue eyes held the attention of her chocolate brown eyes. "Elena, I want you to know that I have absolutely no residing feelings for Katherine. My love for you is entirely unconnected to my infatuation with Katherine and I don't want you to ever doubt that," Damon explained seriously.

Elena nodded in understanding, too overwhelmed by Damon to respond verbally. _'He was only infatuated with Katherine? He bloody lived for that woman for 145 years! How can he say that wasn't love? How can he say he loves me? How long will he live for me if he loves me?' _Elena tried to shake out all the questions in her head. She just needed to listen to Damon for now.

"So what happened to us after that night," Elena enquired, interested to find out her story.

"A lot has happened. Would you like me to give you an overview or would you rather I just told you some of the moments that have gone by?" Damon asked, not sure how to go about explaining 4 years-worth of memories.

"I don't know. Maybe an overview so that I know everything and then maybe you can tell some of the stories…" Elena suggested.

Damon turned to look her straight in the eyes again. "Sure."

"I guess after the whole Katherine debacle, you and I spent more time with each other. Firstly, it was just as friends but then it grew into something deeper. We were both in denial for a while. I thought that maybe I was transferring my feelings for Katherine towards you and I didn't want that because you'd become special to me. You didn't want to admit your feelings for me either because you couldn't believe you were falling for such a monster," Damon smirked before carrying on, "besides, neither of us wanted to hurt Stefan. Although the idea of stealing his girl from him sounded appealing, I still loved him enough not to want to hurt him so deeply. And honestly, I didn't want history to repeat itself. Even though I knew you were so completely different to Katherine, I still worried that if I ever gave you my heart you'd end up stomping all over it like Katherine."

Elena was left speechless by Damon's honesty. She couldn't believe that this was Damon. The guy she knew shut himself off from the rest of the world and would never be capable of speaking about his feelings like this. She didn't even believe he had any feelings four years ago. "Damon, you don't have to worry. I am nothing like Katherine." Elena stressed.

Damon had another one of his cute small smiles on his face that actually made Elena's heart skip a bit. "I know that. I'm married to you. I very much trust you with my heart. No-one could have foreseen that you'd lose your memory. I'll make sure your feelings for me return even if it kills me."

"And how exactly do you think you're going to do that?" Elena challenged, a smirk that could rival Damon's appearing on her face.

"By being my normal, charming, funny, wonderful, sexy self of course" Damon replied as if it was obvious.

Elena's eyebrows rose. "I think you mean you're normal, sarcastic, cocky, arrogant, self. And how is that person going to help you in this situation?"

Damon laughed at Elena's response. "Elena, you fell in love with that sarcastic, cocky, arrogant guy. I'm not going to change who I am to make you fall in love with me. I want you to love me, of course I do, but I want you to love _me_ and not some fake me."

Elena smiled, "Well then how about you start by taking me to lunch now. I'm starving! We can continue our conversation whilst we eat."

"Sounds good to me," Damon responded before standing up. He held out his hand for Elena who grabbed it and got yanked up.

"Thanks," Elena said but her voice was slightly shaky. She was thrown off by the spark of electricity that she felt go through her hand from the simple contact with Damon's. _'Maybe there really could be something between us again.'_

As Damon turned to leave something caught Elena's eyes. Carved on the tree where Damon had been sitting were the words '_Elena loves Damon forever'_. Elena's heart skipped a beat as she saw the words and a feeling of recognition washed through her body. It was like she remembered writing it, yet she couldn't physically remember. Elena closed her eyes trying to grasp onto the memory that she knew was there but she was interrupted by a soft melodic voice that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"You coming Elena?" Damon asked. Elena nodded her head and caught up with her husband. She'd ask him about the carving at some point.

* * *

Just wanted to let you know that you can friend me on livejournal, my username is **miss_asha_s** I'll be posting this story there and I don't know if you're interested you can learn more about me there. Also you can follow me on twitter… I changed my username to **CosmicButton**. Thanks for being amazing readers!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N Yes people that's right… it's an update! I'm one exam down this January… still four more to go I'm sorry it always takes me so long to update but my life is just so hectic, like always and school always comes first. Anyway yeah I still have four more exams this January and then I have three university interviews in February but I will keep trying to update! OMG I know this is late but I'm STILL not over the Elena and Damon kiss This season is gonna be so great for them! This chapter is quite intense and not at all like I had planned it to be but Elena and Damon just decide what they want to do, I swear I have no control even though I'm writing it!

* * *

Elena and Damon strolled into the Grill and occupied a booth towards the back. The waitress promptly came over to take their orders before moving on to another booth. Although Elena was not looking directly at him she could feel Damon's demanding stare on her.

"So how does the rest of the story go?" Elena asked.

"It's not a story that puts us in a great light," Damon warned. Elena nodded in understanding. "We could no longer fight the attraction and we started sneaking around together. I was unhappy with the arrangement after a month because I wanted to be your boyfriend and knowing that Stefan and you were still spending time alone together was driving me up the wall. You agreed that it was time to tell Stefan, but before you could Stefan kind of caught us in a compromising position that clearly showed we weren't just friends. We were both feeling guilty about what we did to Stefan but with time things got better and we could talk civilly to him." Elena felt tears clouding her vision. _'How could I hurt Stefan so badly?' _ She blinked her tears away; what's done is done.

"We then got married seven months after that," Damon continued.

"Whoa we were only together for eight months before getting married?" Elena questioned. Damon nodded his head in conformation. "But I was with Stefan for like…" Elena did some quick Maths in her head before continuing, "eight months as well and we were nowhere near marriage. Plus I must have been just 19! Eight months is kind of fast isn't it?"

"We're kind of..." Damon dwindled off, and Elena could see that he was searching for a word, "Intense," he finished.

'_By intense, does he mean madly in love, the kind where you can't keep your hands off each other, can't stop thinking about the other? But that only lasts for so long...'_

"So any chance we've been married for nearly two years and everything's going perfectly fine and we're just living boring lives?" Elena questioned as their food arrived. Elena grabbed a chip eagerly and popped it in her mouth.

"That's never going to be possible when one of us is a vampire and the other is the doppelganger of a vampire."

"A girl can wish!" Elena joked. "Have we as a couple run into any problems?"

"We have our tiffs if that's what you're asking but I mean with your stubborn nature they're bound to happen."

"Oi! I am not stubborn! If anything we're probably arguing because of your arrogant, i-know-everything nature!" Elena playfully argued.

Damon held his hands up in defeat. "Fine, I can be arrogant sometimes and that may lead to a few disagreements but you have to admit that you're stubborn!"

Elena rolled her eyes and gave a small smile. "Fine! I'm stubborn… I admit it."

"What was that? Did I hear that right?" Damon moved his right hand behind his ear playfully joking with Elena. "Did Elena Gilbert just admit that she is the most insufferable stubborn person to live?"

Elena laughed at Damon's fake indignation. "No she did not. Elena Salvatore admitted that she was a stubborn person. Speaking in third person is really weird!" Elena smiled looking at Damon. She had seen how his eyes had lit up and how a big smile had spread across his face as she referred to herself as a Salvatore. She was glad that she had made him smile, having treated him badly during the initial shock of finding out she had lost four years of her life. Damon deserved to smile more often; the look suited him, even though she had to admit that she missed his smirk.

"No supernatural enemies then in these four years?" Elena asked munching on chips.

"A lot… I'm afraid to tell you," Damon responded truthfully.

"Why?"

"Because it took you a while to forgive me for some of the things that have happened."

Elena's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. _'Why do I have to forgive him for other supernatural events that have occurred in my life?"_

"Okay here goes. Your birth mother Isobel came to town right after we discovered Katherine wasn't in the tomb. She was someone that I turned a few years before meeting you."

"Turned? As in turned into a vampire?" Elena asked overwhelmed by all that she was learning. She knew her birth mum?

"Yes, but I swear that she came to me and asked me to turn her!" Damon tried to explain quickly.

"Did you sleep with her?" Elena asked angrily.

Damon didn't reply and that was all the confirmation Elena needed to know. She got up from her seat angrily, her appetite disappearing altogether. As Damon watched Elena storm out the Grill his senses kicked in. He wasn't about to just let her leave and form more distance between them both emotionally and physically.

As Elena walked out and made a few strides down the road Damon grabbed her wrist and twisted her around.

"Elena don't be mad."

"How the hell am I supposed to not be mad? My husband has slept with my biological mother, not to mention he's fucked my great great great great great great whatever!" Elena shouted.

"Elena you got over it once before, you can get over it again."

Elena scoffed, "great comforting words Damon. Bravo." Elena clapped her hands in sarcasm.

Damon brought his right hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that I don't want to have this argument again. I know you don't remember us arguing about it before, but I can't take you being angry at me and upset about something that took us a while to get over the first time."

"Well you can't expect that from me Damon. It's like I'm learning these things for the first time. It feels like you've only just told me that my birthmother is a fucking vampire and that you've had sex with her." Elena explained as a silent tear rolled down her left cheek.

Damon's eyes softened. "I understand Elena. But you have to understand that that isn't me anymore. I know you find it hard to separate me from the vampire I was four years afo and I'm not saying that I'm not that person because I still am, the difference is that now I have you. You make me a better person. I promise that there is no one for me ever again. It's you always. I've made a lot of mistakes Elena but I don't want to make anymore. The way I feel about Katherine pales in comparison to how much I feel for you and don't even get me started on my non-existent feelings for Isobel." Damon lifted his right hand and wiped her tears with his thumb. He stepped closer to Elena and cupped her face with her hands. "But Elena I need to know if you can understand that. I need to know if I'm fighting a losing battle. Do I stand a chance? Can you forgive me for my sins and look past it to see what you've seen in me before?" Damon asked desperately. He knew that he could never win Elena's love if she was never willing to put herself out there for him. They were spending the day together which was a step forwards but he could still feel Elena holding back.

The tears escaped Elena's eyes as she listened to Damon. The topic had somehow changed drastically towards the elephant in the room that they were trying to pretend didn't exist. Something inside her shifted seeing how vulnerable the man in front of her was. She could feel his sadness, longing… love. She swallowed her tears knowing what she had to do. She nodded her head frantically, "I can Damon." Elena smiled seeing Damon drop his head in relief. She felt guilty for being so self-absorbed. Damon had lost the girl he loved and he didn't deserve it. This Damon that he was now, didn't deserve it. "I promise to be better." Elena whispered. With that promise, she decided to forgive Damon for what happened between him and her birth mother. The rational side of her knew that he didn't know her at the time he met Isobel and it was just a cruel twist of fate that that woman had to be her mother. It was only the irrational side that just cringed at the knowledge that her husband had slept and turned her biological mother.

Damon chuckled at her promise. "There's no way for you to be better Elena. You're perfect."

"Damon I'm scared," Elena confessed.

Damon's eyebrows scrunched together at her revelation. "Why?"

"You love me so much. You love the old me. I'm scared that you won't love me," Elena chuckled, "okay that made no sense. What I'm trying to say is that I'm scared that I'm too different to who I was before. I'm lost and I don't know who I am anymore. I'm scared that you'll wake up realise that you don't love this person and that you'll miss your Elena. You're wife Elena."

Damon listened to Elena carefully, absorbing what she was saying before he pulled her close into a tight hug. Elena wrapped her hands around Damon's waist and dug her head into the crook of his neck. She held on tightly breathing his scent in. Damon stroked Elena's back, trying to comfort her and dispel her fears. He rested his chin on the top of her head and breathed her in. He sighed before speaking softly.

"You don't need to worry about those things Elena. You're honestly not very different to who you were from what I can tell. I know it's a lot to deal with and you only woke up yesterday but like you said, I love you. I love the way you scrunch your nose in disgust; I love the way you laugh heartily, I love the way you smell, I love the way you make me smile and feel so happy in ways that no-one else could ever do or even imagine feeling. You might not know who you are Elena, but I do and I want to help you rediscover who you are."

Damon hugged Elena more tightly and could feel Elena's body shaking as she sobbed. He ran his hands through her hair, waiting patiently for her to let out all the pent up confusion, sadness and sense of loss. Slowly, Elena's crying subsided but she didn't let go of Damon. Damon leant forward placed a chaste kiss on the top of her head and Elena sighed at the contact. She turned her head to the side and realisation kicked in that they were standing in the middle of the road just outside The Grill.

"Err Damon," Elena spoke softly.

"Mmm," Damon replied with his eyes looking hazy as though his mind had drifted far away. Elena slowly pulled away from his comforting embrace.

"People are kind of staring at us." Elena quickly dabbed the tears away from her eyes as embarrassment filled her as she realised that a small crowd had formed around them watching them curiously as though they were monkeys in a zoo.

"They're just amazed at how a beautiful such a beautiful woman could exist," Damon quipped. A slight blush covered Elena's cheeks as she looked away.

"Come on, let's go home," Elena said, grabbing Damon's hand and heading off in the direction of the boarding house. Elena was surprised to realise how natural it felt to be calling the boarding house home. It suddenly started feeling more like her home. Damon smiled, they'd made so much progress today and he felt relieved. He and Elena had a chance.

* * *

As Damon and Elena walked through the front door of the Boarding House, Damon asked Elena if she wanted anything to drink. She nodded and asked for some water. Elena entered the living room and inspected the room to look for differences from what it was like four years ago. From what she could tell, nothing had really changed.

As Elena looked at the mantle she noticed a large frame picture. She walked closer to it and saw that it was another one of her and Damon during their wedding but this time she was looking at the camera apparently giggling as Damon was kissing her cheek. It was a really cute photo.

Elena's eyes glance wandered towards the date written in flowing script on the matte surrounding the picture. _'Oh no'_

Elena could feel that Damon's presence was still in the kitchen and hadn't quite returned yet.

Elena remembered how Damon had said yesterday was the 28th February and seeing as 2010 is not a leap year, that made today March 1st.

"Hey Damon?" Elena called out. Damon appeared immediately clearly having used his vampire abilities.

"Yeah?"

As Elena looked at the photo she was unsure whether she should mention what caught her attention, unsure whether it would upset Damon or not. _'Well I might as well just do it.'_

"Happy Anniversary," Elena told him quietly, and his face settled into a warm genuine smile.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

A/N So proud of myself for updating although I really should be focusing on work. Mechanics exam tomorrow Is it my fault writing Delena is so much more fun than studying Maths? This is my longest chapter ever! So be happy.

Just want to say a few thank yous. First to Mollie (EverythingBasedOnMe) for being a great friend and a huge inspiration. Her stories are amazing so go check them out because you're really missing out if you haven't!

Also want to thank all my anonymous reviewers as I can never PM you for leaving great questions or boosting my confidence. I especially want to thank Kat who always reviews and has great things to say but I can never reply :(

Anyway, discussion over! On with the story.

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Elena woke up early in the morning, this time at the sound of birds chirping. She was too comfortable to move out of bed. '_Day three of this new life.' _She inhaled slowly, the bed smelt just like Damon. It was the unique male Damon smell that could not be found on anyone else and my God did Elena love the smell. After lying in bed for half an hour trying not to think about her life, she realised it was impossible not to. She sat up in bed and determinedly came to the conclusion that she had to continue forgetting all her hesitations and get accustomed to her new life. She would just embrace it and go with the flow. She was being too uptight and she could see the attitude she had on the first day had been getting her nowhere. There was a lot of progress yesterday though.

She still felt the remains of guilt learning that yesterday had been her and Damon's two year anniversary and yet she had had no idea. She felt sad that he had to go through the day with the knowledge that it was their anniversary and yet she didn't even know how their wedding even went. Elena made a mental note to ask Damon if they had a wedding video that she could watch. She was curious to know what it was like; after all it was her wedding day. Every girl dreams of their wedding day and she had missed hers… correction, she'd forgotten hers. She was just glad she'd made the decision to spend the day with Damon rather than Stefan. She had somehow managed to get through the whole of yesterday without seeing Stefan again after the breakfast incident.

Elena looked at her surroundings and was once again taken back by the beauty of the room. It was then that she noticed a photo album lying open on the floor. She picked it quickly. '_Damon must have flipped through the album whilst I was in the hospital.'_ Elena flipped open the first page and was met by a picture of herself, closer to what she remembered looking like – younger. The photo seemed to have been taken from the side, when she wasn't looking. She looked like she was laughing. Elena took the photo out of the album for closer inspection but as she brought it closer to her face it slipped out of her fingers and landed backwards on the bed. There was writing on the back. Damon's beautiful inscriptive handwriting read: _**2006 -**_ _**My beautiful Elena, clearly laughing at something witty that I said.**_

The inscription brought a smile to Elena's face and somehow she didn't doubt that it was his wit that had made her laugh, even if she couldn't remember the day it was taken.

The next photo in the album was one of her and Damon kissing passionately. '_Wow, we look good together'_. Elena could not help the stray but very true thought pass. On the back she noticed that it was her who wrote the comment: **2009-** **My husband... still unable to keep his hands of me! **Elena couldn't help but laugh at it.

The next photo was one of her and Damon and he had his arms around her waist and he was kissing her cheek whilst she grinned. They looked cute together. The picture was similar to the wedding one at the fireplace in the parlour. She turned the photo around to find many comments on the back: _**2007- Damon = sweetheart; Elena = delusional; Damon = in denial; Elena= in need of a wake up call; Oi Damon stop ruining the great moment in the photo! Oi Elena, only if you stop writing all over the back of it! Fine then! Good... I love you really Elena 3... I love you too Damon x**_

The banter on the back of the photograph made Elena's heart clench. The conversation just added to the cuteness of the photo. A fleeting moment of jealousy overcame her before Elena realised how stupid that was. She was jealous of herself! '_I can have this if I want! I need to stop hurting and pushing away Damon.' _Looking at the photographs had reinforced her resolution and made Elena yearn for whatever it was that she and Damon had before she lost her memory. She regretted that she could not remember the memories but she could see that they were clearly unbelievably happy and she wanted that back, even if it began with baby steps.

With a rejuvenated fighting spirit, Elena began to get ready for the day. She opened the huge wardrobe in the bedroom to find all her clothes in it. Everything looked new to her and she could tell she had gotten a bit more adventurous and she liked it. She pulled out a silky red top with a bow in the middle and some black leather leggings. '_Damon's fashion sense has worn on me'_ Elena thought happily.

She bounded down the stairs after washing her face and quiffing her hair. As she went into the kitchen to get some breakfast she found Damon already there by the stove, frying what seemed to smell like pancakes.

"Mmmm my favourite!" Elena exclaimed as she saw how he was making blueberry pancakes.

Damon turned around to spot Elena and his breath caught seeing her beauty. He wished he could show her affection but he didn't want to overstep the line. They had made so much progress yesterday and he didn't want to push her. The ball was firmly in Elena's court. She would call the shots… unless Damon caved and begged! He wasn't too far off begging as it was.

"Have a good night?" Damon asked.

"Yeah the bed is so comfortable. I fall asleep in seconds." Damon nodded his head agreeing that the bed that they used to share was indeed incredibly comfortable. Elena suddenly felt guilty for talking about the room that she had technically stolen from Damon.

He placed a plate with two blueberry pancakes in front of her place at the table. "Thank you," Elena said before beginning to wolf down her breakfast. A smile graced Damon's face as he watched her intently before grabbing his mug full of blood. Elena hoped that he would always keep smiling. He look deliciously sinful she noted and with a smile he looked breathtaking. '_I really shouldn't be thinking like this! But no wait, it's acceptable now. He's no longer your boyfriend's brother. But it's too soon to feel these butterflies when I look at him. No it isn't you idiot. You're married to him Remember your new resoultion.' _Elena's inner argument made her zone out completely and before she knew it she had finished her breakfast and Damon had taken her plate to the sink to wash it. It was such a domestic thing to do that it seemed surprised Elena how normal their life seemed together despite the fact that he was a vampire and she was still a human.

Before Elena could start their conversation again Bonnie walked into the kitchen clad in only Stefan's shirt causing Elena's eyes to widen and her eyebrows to rise.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I thought no-one would be up by now!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Damon rolled her eyes at her pathetic excuse. "Sure," he said not sounding all that convinced. Before Elena could even comment Stefan walked into the room and he was thankfully dressed properly.

"Morning Damon, Elena," Stefan said nodding his head at both of them in acknowledgement. His eyes remained on Elena for a few seconds too long and Elena was not the only one who noticed. Somehow, this didn't bring her any joy anymore. Elena was married now and if there was one thing she knew about herself it was that she was a faithful wife. She would never look at Stefan in the same way. Well, not for as long as she was still married to Damon. Elena glanced at Damon to see he was glaring at Stefan and even though it really shouldn't have, it made Elena smile knowing that Damon was a little overprotective of her. She knew he was uncomfortable with the dynamic of her and Stefan's relationship, especially after her outburst the first day at the hospital. But that was then, and this is now. Stefan was the past, Damon was now the present.

"Morning Stefan," Elena replied politely. Elena stood up to make her way out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"To my bedroom," Elena replied. Just as she was about to step over the threshold she turned around. "Hey Damon, want to join me?"

To say Damon was surprised was an understatement. His eyes widened at Elena's question, completely caught off guard. Even Bonnie looked surprised. Stefan didn't seem to react to her words, instead deciding upon keeping his expressions blank.

"What?" Damon asked in disbelief. Elena's eyes widened realising what the connotations of her question were.

"Err… I… umm. No, I didn't… I mean not like that," Elena stuttered completely embarrassed by what was happening. She really shouldn't have put herself out there. It was turning into a mess.

Damon smiled unable to resist how cute Elena looked when she was all flustered. He walked right up to her so that she could feel his body heat radiating onto her. It made her feel even hotter and got her more flustered. Damon looked her in the eyes and she couldn't take her eyes of his beautiful blue shining ones. He slowly leaned in closer to her. Elena's eyes enlarged, was he going to kiss her? With Stefan and Bonnie still in the room? Elena felt her heart rate increase; she could feel her blood pumping through her and her breathing getting heavier. She could see in Damon's eyes that he knew how she was reacting. Damon leaned in even further towards Elena. Her eyes slowly fluttered shut but the contact she thought was coming was not the contact she got. Damon slipped his hand into Elena's hand as she opened her eyes. He dragged her out the room and up the stairs. Elena tried to calm herself down and pretend that the moment had not happened. She didn't think it was possible to be more embarrassed than she already was. She fought the niggling feelings of rejection and disappointment that were slowly building inside her, chastising herself for having such feelings.

As they reached her room, well Damon's room, no their room, no their old room, Damon sat Elena down on the bed and took a seat beside her.

"So what did you want us to do in your room?" Damon said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Not that," Elena said pointedly, surprising herself at how strong and unaffected her voice sounded. That was definitely not how she was feeling. "I don't know. I thought maybe we could talk. Get to know each other."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I already know everything there is to know about you," he said smugly.

Elena narrowed her eyes, "no you do not! I know more about myself."

Damon laughed cockily, "says the girl whose just forgotten the last four years of her life."

Elena now rolled her eyes. "Details. Besides like you said I don't remember the last four years of my life so I'm different now."

"You're really not that different at all Elena. I'd argue that you were actually still exactly the same." Damon's eyes narrowed as an idea flew into his head. "How about we play a game?"

"What kind of game?" Elena asked wearily, aware that Damon's ideas weren't always the best.

"How about you ask me any three questions about yourself and I have to try and get them all right."

"What's at stake?" Elena asked intrigued by the game.

"Whatever you want."

"Okay, well if I win then you have to let me have a sleepover with my friends at the boarding house in which we can do anything we want and you have to stay and endure it," Elena said happily.

Damon rolled his eyes once again. "Seriously, you can have anything and that is what you chose?" He was clearly not impressed.

"Well then what do you want Mr-I-know-everything? And you can't ask me to have sex with you," Elena added hastily.

Damon grinned and made a tsking noise, "did I ever mention wanting sex?"

Elena started blushing realising she had jumped to conclusion. "No," she replied quietly. "What do you want then?"

Damon smirked clearly knowing what he wanted. "If I win, I get to move back into this room with you. The lumpy bed in the guest room is no good for my back. Besides, like you said earlier the bed here is oh so comfortable."

Elena gulped, clearly he had chosen cleverly. She swallowed any fears she felt. There was no way Damon would win. "Deal."

"Okay, well seeing as you need to learn more about me, your dashing husband, any question you ask about yourself is also a question directed to me, so choose wisely," Damon grinned, knowing he was going to enjoy this game. He knew Elena a thousand times better than her knew himself – and he knew himself pretty damn well.

"Okay then let's begin," Elena said getting pumped up as her competitive nature kicked in.

"What is the teddy that's always in my room called?"

Damon sighed, "Too easy. Mr Snuggles and by the way I don't have a teddy so that's a wasted question on me as well."

Elena simply laughed in response. "Don't worry I'm just lulling you into a false sense of security that you might win but don't worry, you have no chance."

"We'll see about that," Damon challenged.

"Where did I injure myself when I fell off a swing my dad was pushing me on when I was six?" Elena smirked, there was no way Damon would know this; this was an incident that happened long before he entered her life.

"You have a scar just under your left breast where one of the rocks you landed on cut into you. It required three stitches to close up," Damon replied nonchalantly. He reeled in his laughter as he saw Elena's face after his response. Elena had gone bright red at just the mention of her breasts. '_How the hell did he know? Oh that's right Elena, you dumbass, Damon's probably seen the scar granted he's had the pleasure of seeing you naked more times that you could imagine.' _

"Oh and seeing as I wasn't injured on the swings when you're dad pushed me," Damon commented cheekily, "I shall just have to tell you about how I have a scar on the back of my right hand from when Stefan was eight and thought it would be funny to jab his fork into my hand." Damon lifted his hand to show Elena his scar. She laughed picturing a little Damon yelling at a little Stefan for injuring him.

"Oh and I probably have a couple scars on my back from the numerous times your nails have dug into my back," Damon added, laughing as he saw Elena turning more red. He had thought it wasn't possible.

"Liar, you have supernatural healing, you don't get scars anymore! Anyway moving on swiftly… third and final question." Elena said quickly wanting to move on in order to get the images of her crying out in ecstasy at Damon's ministrations whilst digging her nails into his back, out of her mind.

Elena's eyes narrowed as she tried to think of something really obscure that Damon would have no idea about. She also wanted it to be a question that would tell her a lot about Damon, Elena smiled as she thought of something.

"What was my biggest fear before I found out about the supernatural?"

Damon didn't reply straight away and Elena started doing a little happy dance in her head knowing that Damon wouldn't know. Damon looked directly at Elena, his eyes narrowing as he tried to come up with and answer. Slowly a smile worked its way onto his face as he confidently replied, "you were scared of the fact that you didn't fit in and you feared that you would never fit in."

Elena's smile wiped right off her face, her eyes widening. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

"You feared not fitting in and finding your place in the world." Damon repeated smugly.

"How the hell did you know that?" Elena asked in shock.

Damon shrugged. "I have my ways," he said ominously. "You know what this means?"

"What?" Elena asked still in a daze.

"I'm moving back in!" he said joyfully. Elena gulped at the realisation that she had actually lost the game. But a small part of her was glad seeing how brightly Damon's eyes were shining at the fact that he had won their stupid game.

"On a sombre note, this was a much better question to ask me. My biggest fear before becoming a vampire was to never be loved by anyone. " Elena saw the flashes of pain cross his eyes at his confession and her heart tugged inside her seeing the pain he had been through. "But it's nowhere near as big as the fear that I'm going to lose you," Damon whispered. Elena froze, the weight of his words catching up to her. Before she even saw him move, she felt his lips press a light kiss on her left cheek and linger there. He then quickly got up and headed towards the bedroom door.

"Where are you going?" she asked breathlessly. '_Oh God, how can one kiss on the cheek leave me so breathless?'_

Damon grinned, not turning around to face. With his back to her he replied, "I'm getting my things, because I'm moving back into my room." Elena could hear the joy in his words and couldn't help but chuckle.

Just as he was about to exit the room he turned around and leant against the doorframe. "Oh Elena, go ahead and invite you friends over for a sleepover."

"What? Why? I lost." Elena answered in confusion.

"Well I feel like being an amazing husband and letting you have your gift anyway. Besides, I want to show you that you do fit in to this world. You fit perfectly with me." Before Elena could react to his words, Damon left the room. Elena sat on her bed, thinking over what had happened that day. She glanced at the digital clock on the night stand; time had somehow flown by with Damon. But like they say, time flies when you're having fun.

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A/N I hope you all liked it! I feel like I might be rushing Damon and Elena's new relationship given that this is only like the third day of her new life… so please review and assure me that you don't care as long as there are Delena moments!

Twitter: CosmicButton I have some awesome chats with readers/friends so follow me if you want to get to know me more/ learn when I'm updating etc

Livejournal: miss_asha_s I post this story there… except no-one reads it there :/


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Hello everyone! Just wanted to say I was sorry for not replying to your reviews last chapter… I was extremely busy and ended up not getting around to it :/ But I promise I read and appreciated every single one! Also I'm still so depressed over the last episode and so I like went major on the fluff in this chapter to make up for it. The EW photos are keeping me happy

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The doorbell resonated loudly through the boarding house. Elena ran from the parlour to open the door. Caroline squealed as soon as she saw Elena which in turn caused Elena to squeal.

"I cannot believe you got Damon to allow you to have a sleepover with the gang! Girl, you still have your magic power over him." Elena grinned not knowing how to respond. "So how have things been? Are you settling in okay? Damon's not giving you a hard time is he?" Caroline questioned, wanting to be there for her friend.

Elena smiled softy, "don't worry Care, I'm actually dealing with what's happening and Damon's been really supportive." Elena was unsure whether to mention the whole new sleeping arrangements issue but decided against it – she wanted to keep some things to herself.

Before long Tyler and Matt had joined them. Elena had filled Bonnie in earlier on what was going on, who immediately agreed to join them.

"So, what exactly are we going to do?" Stefan asked walking down the stairs with Damon on his heels.

"Err watch a movie?" Elena suggested.

"Boring! We're not 10 anymore! Let's play a drinking game," Tyler suggested.

"I'm with the wolf," Damon chipped in.

Elena groaned, "I've played enough games today already." Elena shot Damon a meaningful look.

"Well, I love playing games," Damon said drawing out the word love, "you know why? Because I always win," he added cheekily. Elena rolled her eyes at his smugness. It was irritating and cute at the same time.

"How about a compromise: we play a drinking game and then as we're wasted we'll watch a film," Caroline said getting into her organiser mode.

"Why don't we play I Have Never?" Bonnie suggested. Most people were up for it so Elena had no choice but to join in. "Who's up first?"

"I'll start!" Caroline said giddily before even having taken a mouthful of her tequila. "Ermm I have never… oh wait I've done that," Caroline said thinking out loud.

"Anytime today Care," Tyler butted in but quickly shut his mouth after the glare he received from Caroline.

"Oh I have one! I have never had anal sex," Caroline blushed at what she had said, whilst Matt's eyes bugged out at the revelation about their sex life. She was curious to know which of her friends had.

"Way too much information Care!" Tyler said before receiving another death glare from Caroline and downing his drink. Stefan and Damon followed suit whilst the rest of them left their drinks untouched. Bonnie's eyes widened when she saw that her boyfriend had had anal sex and had never told her that he ever had. Elena expected in from Damon and didn't think much on the matter. He had lived for well over a century and being the womaniser that he once was, it wasn't a surprise to her that he had been adventurous with his partners. Before the next person could say a statement Damon cleared his throat.

"Err Elena."

"Hmm?"

"You're meant to have a drink," Damon smirked.

"What? Why?"

"Well Elena, the game works that if you have done the activity in the statement then you have to drink up," Damon sarcastically.

"I do know how the game works," Elena scoffed before realisation hit her that Damon was implying that they had had anal sex together. Elena's face turned red in embarrassment. "No way."

"Err, yes way." Damon replied cockily. Elena wanted to run out the room. Everyone here now knew that she had had anal sex with Damon at some point and they all knew that she obviously didn't remember it. Elena caught a glance of Stefan and cringed. This was too awkward. The knowledge that she had slept with Damon countless times had crossed her mind but she never wondered how adventurous the trysts would have been.

"Barbie, maybe we should play a different game as I'm pretty sure Elena has done many things in the last four years that she had never done before," Damon suggested, realising that he may have taken things too far, seeing how quiet and embarrassed Elena had got. He needed to remember that although she was more comfortable with his presence she had still only woken up from her coma a few days ago.

"Okay how about truth or dare?" Stefan suggested.

"That won't really work either," Damon rejected.

"Okay I give in, I can't be bothered to waste time thinking of a game to play. Let's just watch a film," Tyler sighed.

"Is anyone hungry?" Damon asked, realising that Elena hadn't had any dinner yet.

"Now that you mention it I'm starving!" Matt moaned.

"How about you Elena?" Damon asked with concern.

"Umm I could do with something to eat," Elena replied quietly, still feeling the after waves of her embarrassment.

Damon nodded and made his way to the kitchen to fix something up. Everyone in the parlour was deciding on a film to watch and it looked like it could take a while, given the arguments that were erupting after every option that was supplied. Elena spaced out and only came back to reality when she realised Caroline was staring at her waiting to hear what her opinion was.

"I really don't care guys… anything from the last four years is good with me. It's not like I'll remember the films."

Matt gave her the most pitiful look she had ever received and as she looked around the room she could see that most of the people had the same look. Elena couldn't sit there in their presence anymore, knowing that they all felt sorry for her. 'Poor Elena' was running through all their minds and she could no longer pretend it wasn't bothering her. "I'm going to go check on Damon and see how the cooking is going." Elena sped walked out of the room, not looking back once.

As she walked towards the threshold of the kitchen, Damon came into her line of vision. Elena had to fight the sudden urge to wrap her arms around his waist and lean into him. That would be too much for her right now. She wondered if her body still remembered that she was with Damon if her brain didn't.

"You know it's not polite to stare," Damon drawled as he turned to look at her. Elena started to blush not knowing what to say to make him think she wasn't actually staring at him. Realising too much time had passed to come up with an excuse she shrugged non-committally.

"How did you know I was there?" Elena asked, truly curious as to how Damon knew, she was sure that she was silent.

Damon smirked, "Vampire remember."

"Oh yeah," Elena replied lamely. _How the hell did I forget that_? "So what you making?"

"I'm just whipping up some spaghetti bolognese. Is that okay with you?"

"It's perfect," Elena smiled.

"So why did you decide to join me in the kitchen?" Damon asked grinning.

"I don't know. I guess it was all just getting a bit too much in the parlour." Damon nodded in understanding.

"Want to help me cook?"

"Really?" Elena's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Really." Damon smiled at Elena's delight to cook something as boring as spaghetti. I've cut up the tomatoes but you can add them to the pan if you want."

Elena quickly walked towards where Damon had cut up the tomatoes and then moved towards where Damon was standing in front of the stove.

"I used to help my mum with the cooking when I was younger but when... but when she passed away and we lived with Aunt Jenna, I never cooked again because Aunt Jenna didn't know how to. I miss it." Elena revealed wistfully.

Damon smiled as she revealed a piece of information about herself. He already knew the story but Elena didn't need to know that he did. She needed to get these things off her chest again and Damon was all too happy to be there for her again.

"Well you can always cook with me." Damon said offhandedly as he continued to make the bolognese sauce. Elena smiled at the simple words that meant a lot more to her than they would to other people.

As Damon finished the sauce he brought a spoon up to Elena's mouth to try it out. Elena moaned at the taste causing Damon's eyes to darken in lust but she never saw it seeing as she was too preoccupied by how heavenly the sauce tasted.

"How the hell are you so good at cooking?" Elena asked astonished.

"150 plus years living on Earth, you pick up a thing or two."

"Guys hurry up! We've chosen a film!" Matt yelled to the pair in the kitchen.

Damon put the spaghetti bolognese onto a plate before giving it to Elena. As their hands brushed, Elena flinched and immediately broke the contact. Damon's pupils constricted and a scowl was painted on his face but he didn't say anything, he just filled another plate of dinner, this one for Matt and left the kitchen speedily. Elena was sure he used some vampire speed to leave as quickly as possible.

She stood frozen in place and began eating her dinner. She wasn't quite ready to see everyone in the parlour; she needed to get her thoughts together. She knew Damon had taken her flinching in the wrong way and had thought she hadn't liked the contact. If anything it was the complete opposite. His touch had once again sent an electric shock through her and seeing as she hadn't been expecting it, she yanked her hand away. She didn't know what else to do, she didn't want Damon to be upset and angry at her but she didn't want to tell him the real reason for pulling her hand away. _It is too soon to have these feelings. _Elena inwardly laughed, if anything she shouldn't be so scared about rushing things, I mean the guy was her husband, things were as rushed as they possibly could get in her amnesiac mind.

"Elena, hurry up!" Caroline whined.

Elena sighed; she didn't have any more time to ponder. She needed to go back and enjoy the sleepover she was hosting. She quickly placed her plate in the sink to wash later on. She then entered the living room and saw that everyone had taken up a space on the sofas. From the corner of her eye she saw Damon sprawled across the largest sofa. She couldn't help but smile at the sight and think about how sexy he looked. This look didn't go unnoticed by Caroline and Stefan who saw the genuine smile on her face.

Matt who had wolfed down his plate of food in record time moved to take his place on the couch to the left that had Caroline lying on it looking gorgeous, as usual. Stefan and Bonnie were on the other one whilst Tyler sat on the barcalounger. Both couples had the male with their arms around their girl. It was at that moment that Elena noticed that there was nowhere to sit. She tried to get Damon's attention so that she could ask where she should sit through her eyes but he had changed position and was now lying on his back with his arm on his head covering his eyes.

Caroline, once again was first to notice Elena's problem as she had her eyes focused on Elena ever since she entered the room. She felt guilty for the way she had acted with Elena about her relationship with Damon, the other day at The Grill and she was determined to rectify it. She knew that Damon and Elena were a power couple but she just always felt that Elena could do better; she didn't need the drama that always came with Damon. Wanting to put it all behind her and just be there for a friend to pick up the pieces of her life, Caroline coughed to clear her voice.

"Damon! Move over Elena is gonna sit next to you." Elena's body went rigid hearing what Caroline had said. She didn't think she could handle more contact between them, she was still buzzing from the merest of touches. Besides she knew Damon was still angry at her. _Am I supposed to lie against Damon?_ _Or am I meant to ask him to sit up so that I can sit down on the other side?_

Elena hesitantly walked towards Damon and stopped right in front of him. He removed his arm from his head and looked directly looked into her eyes. Her breath hitched as it always seemed to these days when she was looking straight into his beautiful blue eyes. Damon looked into her questioning eyes and knew right away that she wasn't sure how she was meant to sit on the couch… something he found quite amusing. She knew that he understood what her dilemma was and was a tad bit annoyed that he found it amusing but then again she thought it was quite funny how stupid it sounded that she didn't know how to sit a couch with her husband. Damon blinked, keeping his eyes closed just a second longer giving the solution to her through such a simple action. She nodded her head slightly understanding what he was telling her.

He grabbed her arm to bring her down to the couch. He then moved back and turned onto his side so that his back was now against the back of the couch. Elena turned around and laid down on the couch so that her back was pressing into Damon's chest. She closed her eyes at the touch unsurprised at how excitement ran through her body at the simple touch. Had she been facing him she would have seen that he did the same. Damon lightly moved his arm so that it was lightly draped around her waist. Elena was having trouble breathing as she could feel his breath on the nape of her neck making the small hairs stand up.

Bonnie was observing every movement from afar nonchalantly. To say she was surprised was the understatement of the year. The position that they had taken up gave the impression that the two were boyfriend and girlfriend for years and on the brink of marriage. Well technically they were already past those steps, they were officially married but considering how only a few days ago Elena had been fretting to her and Caroline about how her life was not what she imagined, she seemed to have settled into it pretty well. The position they had taken up looked so natural for the two as if Elena remembered it was the way that she always leant into Damon.

Caroline was blown away at how both Damon and Elena understood each other without speaking a word. It had taken her a year to master that with Matt. She could understand how easy it would be for Damon to read Elena but she didn't realise how easily it would come to Elena herself. But then again, when she thought about it, even when they were friends they had some unspeakable understanding. Communication without words was easy for them.

These same thoughts had run through Damon's head. He had accidentally answered without using words forgetting that she wouldn't understand and yet he saw her nod her head indicating that she did indeed understand. His eyes widened a little before he grabbed her arm to pull her down. Just touching her had sent the small wave of electricity that always flowed between them – he was so used to it now. He moved into position and when he felt Elena's back touch him he couldn't help but love the feeling. He moved his arm around her waist so that she wouldn't ever fall off the sofa but more so because he simply wanted to touch her.

He was still so confused by Elena's reaction to his touch in the kitchen. He was angry at her for not wanting to touch him and yet he realised how stupid that was. His wife was in her mind an 18 year old again and he had to remember to take this slowly and stop pushing. It just wasn't in his nature to be patient. Realising he didn't deserve to be angry at her for being hesitant, he resolved to letting go of his anger. He didn't need it; he had enough emotions circling as it was. Besides, he was once again puzzled by how the contact they had now (which was much more than in the kitchen) wasn't bothering her. Somehow he felt that he knew everything about Elena but at the same time he knew nothing about her. For now he was content with just holding her and pretending to watch whatever film it was that was playing on the flat screen.

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A/N I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know in a review…

Twitter: CosmicButton  
Livejournal: miss_asha_s


	9. Chapter 9

A/N I wanted to have this update out last night but then the site was down again! It's half term for me so I wanted to quickly write another chapter for you guys because I'm going to be really busy these next two weeks. I have 2 university interviews to do and I'm dying from my killer Chemistry coursework… it's awful. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.

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Elena woke up to the feel of Damon's chest pressed against hers; his arm was no longer around her waist. Their legs were entangled and the only way to separate herself from him would be to wake him up and let him be privy to their current entanglement. _'We must have fallen asleep after the second film, or was it the third one?' _She looked at the other sofas to see that they were all no longer occupied. It was just her and Damon in the room. She could feel Damon beginning to stir next to her and started to panic, not knowing how to deal with their close body positions, she, at the spur of the moment decided to pretend she was still asleep.

Damon awoke to find Elena asleep next him, similar to the position they had taken up when watching the films except she was now facing him. Before he could reflect any further on their position the sound of his mobile phone could be heard.

Damon struggled to get his mobile out of his pocket as it happened to be in the exact position where Elena was pressed against him. As he moved his hand in between their bodies he brushed her bare stomach where her t-shirt had ridden up. He was getting frustrated at the fact that he couldn't get to his mobile without waking Elena up. He was a vampire for God's sake, this should be easy! Just as Damon was about to wake Elena up she rolled away from him so that he was able to get his mobile but as she was turning Damon noticed that she was about to fall off the sofa and so quickly grabbed her around the waist, once again coming into contact with her bare skin.

Damon quickly grabbed his phone out of his pocket just before the ring tone was about to end.

"Talk to me," Damon said into the phone as he readjusted his position and gently moved Elena so that she wouldn't fall off the couch. Their legs were still tangled together.

"Oh hey Ric… what's up? Really? And you so desperately need me for that? No it's fine; I could do with getting out of the house. Alright I'll be there in an hour or so. Bye." Damon closed his cell phone and sat there in silence for a few minutes simply needing a moment to rest and gather himself together. He only snapped out of it when he felt Elena's body shift back closer to him, her t-shirt riding up a bit more. Damon continued to stare at Elena's exposed skin, the temptation to stroke her stomach was overwhelming, but he knew it was wrong to do it without her permission – even if she was his wife – he would just have to refrain. He was thankful when Tyler walked into the room giving him a distraction from his lust. He quickly pulled Elena's t-shirt down to cover her exposed stomach from Tyler's view.

"Yo D, you're finally up!" Tyler greeted whilst munching on the ham sandwich he made himself in the kitchen of the boarding house.

"Shhhhh! She's still sleeping," Damon said indicating to Elena. "What time is it? And where is everybody?" Damon asked quietly.

"Everyone's left except Stefan who I think has gone up to his room. I was up last amongst the others and it's just gone half past 12."

"Okay well I'm gonna go meet Ric in an hour. He wants me to play some stupid video game that Jenna finally let him buy. Do you wanna join us?" Damon asked.

"Sure sounds good," Tyler shrugged, not all that bothered about the plans.

"Okay, I guess I'll meet you there as soon as I detach Elena from me and have a shower," Damon joked as Tyler made his way out of the Salvatore residence.

Damon sat still for a few seconds trying to think of the cleverest way to detach himself without waking his wife up. He decided to remove his legs from in between hers and then work from there. He tried to yank his legs away, not too hard but his effort was useless despite the fact that he was a vampire as Elena had her legs gripping his quite tightly and in an awkward position. He wondered how she could be comfortable sleeping in that position but reminded himself that she had always been very flexible. He decided using his hands would probably do better. He gently placed them on Elena's smooth thigh and picked it up and placed it on the sofa so that one of her legs were no longer on top of his and therefore no longer trapping his legs. He then rolled himself over her taking extra care not to put too much weight on her as he did so. He then fell off the couch with a small thud as Elena stayed on. He was quite proud of himself for removing himself from her body without touching her inappropriately or waking her up. All he knew was that his shower was definitely going to be a cold one; it had been a while since he had laid that close to Elena and now just the proximity of her body had sent his into overdrive.

As soon as Damon left the room Elena's eyes fluttered open again. It had taken all of her will power not to ruin her plan of pretending to be asleep whenever Damon touched her especially when his warm hand was pressed against her stomach.

She quickly ran up to her room and upon entering realised that Damon was taking his shower in the ensuite to their room. Damn, she had forgotten that he was moving back into her room. They were going to be sharing it. Elena quickly brushed her hair and looked in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable before rushing out the room. She wanted to make sure she was well-clear of the possibility of a naked Damon covered by only a fluffy towel coming out of the bathroom. She was not ready to see that.

Elena was pouring herself a bowl of cereal when Damon walked into the kitchen.

"Hey sleepyhead, I'm just going to head over to Ric's for a couple hours. Is that alright with you?"

Elena smiled at his consideration of her feelings. "It's perfectly fine with me Damon; you don't need to ask for my permission!" Elena exclaimed as she sat down to eat her breakfast.

"I know, it's just it'll be the first time I'm leaving you alone after the accident, I'm just a little nervous. I almost want you to stop me from going," Damon admitted.

"Go Damon! You have to leave me alone at some point. Besides I'm hardly alone, Stefan is still here," Elena pointed out. Damon squinted his eyes and looked as though he was going to say something before thinking better of it.

"Okay, just be safe." Damon leant down and left a quick, chaste kiss on Elena's forehead before exiting the house. Elena let out a puff of air – the small kiss was touching.

Elena slowly ate her breakfast as she thought about what she should do for the day whilst Damon was gone. _'Maybe now would be a good time to have a talk with Stefan.'_

After wasting time for a few hours watching daytime television – which Elena realised had only gotten worse with time- she decided it was time to stop procrastinating and made her way up the stairs and took the familiar route along the hallway until she was outside Stefan's room. She knocked lightly at the door, nervous about what was going to unfold.

"Come in Elena," Stefan called from the other side of the door. Elena took a deep breath and walked into the room. A quick glance around the room showed her that it had hardly changed from the room she had seen four years ago. "So what brings you here?" Stefan asked smiling.

"I guess I err wanted to talk to you about something. Where's Bonnie?"

"Oh Bonnie's gone to visit her mum."

"Her mum?" Elena asked confused.

"Yeah, oh right you don't remember. Her mum returned a few years ago and begged Bonnie to forgive her for ever leaving. Bonnie didn't want to but her mum kept chipping away at her wall and they've reconciled."

"Oh that's… wonderful," Elena replied lamely. She felt a little selfish for not asking more about the lives of her friends. She behaving a little too self-absorbed and she wanted to change that.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Stefan asked nervously. Elena was looking at the floor not sure how to express her feelings in the right way. Elena hadn't answered his question and so he decided to hazard a guess. "Is this about the memories you've lost?" Elena shook her head, no. "Okay is this about me and Bonnie?" Elena once again shook her head side to side. "Is this about Damon?" he whispered.

"Yes and no," Elena replied finally looking up from the floor and into Stefan's eyes. "It's just that I feel that we need to get things out in the open and talk about what this situation is going to do to our relationship."

"Relationship?" Stefan asked. Elena could swear she saw Stefan's eyes light up before coming to the conclusion she was just seeing things.

"I mean like our friendship," Elena clarified.

"Do you have something specific that you want to say?"

"Yes, I just don't know where to start. I'm sorry Stefan. Damon told me about the way in which we got together and it makes me feel really guilty and disappointed in myself. I know I've probably apologised before but I feel like I have to say it again. What Damon and I did was incredibly hurtful and I'm sorry for causing you pain."

Stefan smiled at Elena's apology. This was the Elena that used to love him. The one that didn't want to hurt him.

It was times like this that Elena wished she could just get her memory back right away and not have to deal with emotions that she knew she had probably moved past and dealt with in the last four years.

"I forgive you Elena. I just I never understood what went wrong between us. I thought we were perfect and then one day I just caught you and Damon together and you told me things weren't as I thought they were between us." Stefan's voice cracking when remembering the pain he felt.

Elena's eyes welled up with unshed tears. "I don't understand either Stefan," Elena replied sniffling. Stefan's eyes shone at her words. "But maybe I'll get my memory back and I will know why I made the choices that I did. Until then, even though a part of me wants to beg you to take me back, that isn't going to solve all my problems." Stefan opened his mouth to interrupt but Elena held her hand up to stop him. "No, I get it. You have Bonnie now and I have Damon. I can't hurt my friends over my selfish inability to hold onto what I know. Besides, when… if I get my memory back then I'll be kicking myself over the decisions I want to make… unless I'm unhappy with how my life was, although it didn't seem that way. I'm rambling now. What I mean is that this moment is me letting you go and moving on with my life again. This is it; it's over for us," Elena added tearfully.

Stefan looked as though he was once again going to say something before deciding it would be better to keep his mouth shut. Instead he grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her towards his body to give her a hug, whilst she sobbed in his chest. Stefan hid his face in her hair and held her tight as Elena continued crying. Moments later she separated herself from him and headed out of his room and towards her room.

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Elena lay on her incredibly comfortable bed but her head was too filled with worries and thoughts to drift into sleep. She kept twisting the rings on her finger unconsciously as her mind was jumping between thoughts. She had too many mixed feelings and she was finding it hard to separate them in order to sort them out. She was glad that she had the talk with Stefan, it felt like some of the guilt she had been harbouring since finding out she was married to Damon had been lifted. Even if her relationship with Damon was well over three years old, it felt to her like she was only with Stefan a week ago.

On the other hand, she still had all her newly developing feelings for Damon confusing the shit out of her. '_Why is he so damn charming?'_ He had been so perfect when dealing with her amnesia; he was patient and never pushing her to get her memory back. It didn't take a genius to figure out that any guy with a wife suffering from retrograde amnesia would want her memories to return as soon as possible. But for some reason, Damon seemed pretty calm about it considering. Elena was meant to feel frustrated with herself for disappointing him and everyone else in her life with her inability to remember but she wasn't. Damon hadn't been pressurising her to remember; it was as though he had so much faith in them that he didn't feel she needed her memories to love him. Elena was continually being surprised by him and she liked this new Damon that he had become, he still had his old-self in him but he was feeling things other than pain and anger.

Elena turned on her side and it was only when she glanced at the clock that she realised how much time had flown by. '_Where is Damon?_ _He should have been back hours ago. Alaric shouldn't have needed him for that long… unless they decided to go out after.'_ Elena went to grab her phone from her back pocket to see if she got any messages from Damon regarding his extended absence. As she unlocked her iphone - an incredibly cool mobile device that she had immediately become attached too after waking up from her coma – she saw that she hadn't received any texts. A wave a panic washed through her. '_What if he's hurt?'_

Before Elena could start a full-blown panic attack, her phone started buzzing – Ric was calling her.

"Alaric, thank God! Is Damon still with you?" Elena rushed, not even greeting her uncle with a hello.

"Err actually Damon left my place around 4 hours ago but I just arrived at the Grill to pick up Jenna from her girl's night out and spotted Damon by the bar. He doesn't look in good shape, I think you might need to come by to pick him up."

Elena frowned at Alaric's words. _'Why the hell is Damon drunk at the Grill?' _"Err thanks Ric, I'm on my way," she said before promptly hanging up.

Elena quickly got into the car that Damon had earlier said was hers and put the key he had given her into the ignition to fire it up. She hastily drove to the Grill trying not to think too hard about what could have possibly sent Damon to go on yet another drinking binge.

As soon as she walked through the front door, she spotted Alaric close to the entrance holding up a very drunk Jenna.

"Hey Elena, Damon's still by the bar. I'm sorry I can't stay and help you with him but I really think I should take Jenna home, she doesn't look too good," Alaric explained.

Before Elena could respond, Jenna spoke in her inebriated state. "Excuse me! I look stunning," she slurred.

Elena smiled at her words before turning back to Ric. "Don't worry it's fine. You have your hands full. I can deal with Damon."

"Okay, goodnight Elena," Alaric added before dragging his wife out the entrance with him.

Elena turned her attention towards the bar and her eyes easily found her leather-clad husband. She sighed and marched over to where he was.

"Care to give me an explanation as to why I'm finding you drunk at a bar?" Elena questioned with one eyebrow raised.

Damon turned to look at her before he sneered, "oh it looks like the slut has arrived."

Elena's eyes widened at his malicious words. "What?" she asked confused by his less-than-kind words.

"It seems she's a deaf slut," he mumbled to himself as he downed another shot.

"Why are you being so mean?" Elena whispered. Damon turned away from, no longer wanting to see the sight of her. Elena's heart constricted. This was the Damon she remembered, he was cold and showed none of the warmth that was locked inside him towards her.

"Why don't you just go back to the boarding house and keep hugging my brother?" Damon retaliated.

"You saw that?" Elena asked shocked to learn that Damon had been behind her. _'Had Stefan not seen or heard him?'_

"Yep," Damon said popping the 'p' "You might not want to squeeze little bro so hard… being on the bunny diet means he's so weak that a hug from someone as petite as you can cause him pain."

"Stop being an ass Damon," Elena replied sternly, not happy with his attitude. His quips were getting in the way of sorting out their problems.

"You expect me to not be an ass after seeing my wife sobbing in my brother's arms, holding on for dear life as he smells her hair?" Damon questioned, finally looking back at Elena.

"It wasn't like that Da-"

"Yes it was," Damon interrupted looking down at his next drink and away from Elena.

"Damon, will you let me explain? Look at me." Damon refused to look at her. It would only cause him pain to see her tell him that it would once again always be Stefan. He had thought they were making progress but maybe he had just imagined it all. "I said look at me Damon." Damon still made no move to look at her. "Please," she begged.

When Damon continued to refuse she moved closer to him and took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. She caught his gaze and held it. "There is nothing going on between Stefan and I, okay?" Elena said forcefully. "Yes, we hugged, but Damon it honestly meant nothing, absolutely nothing. Oh, and he did not smell my hair! I'm not going to lie Damon, I do still have residual feelings for Stefan but they're fading. They're fading fast and being replaced by things that I've never felt before in my life and it's exciting and scary and I just don't want it to be ruined by something that's now clearly in the past. I'm not going to throw away a two year marriage, even if I don't remember everything I know it's special. You have to trust me." Elena looked into Damon's eyes and could see that the coldness had disappeared; he was no longer going to be a jerk. Her words had touched him just like she had wanted them to. Wanting to wipe away the last speck of doubt that she could see in his beautiful blue eyes she leant forward a place a kiss on his cheek. She lingered there before placing another kiss a little lower and another along his jaw line and then a final kiss right next to his lips. She remained for a few seconds a hair's breadth away from his lips, breathing heavily, before she took a step back.

"I'm sorry," Damon whispered. Elena didn't reply but she knew that he knew she had forgiven him.

"Can we go home now?" she asked him softly. Damon nodded his head almost automatically, still in a daze, the effects her words and kisses had left him with.

The couple did not say another word to each other as Elena drove them home, both lost in their own world. They proceeded to their room to spend their first night sleeping in the same room since Elena's accident and yet they still didn't say a word to each other. They didn't need to.

* * *

Please leave a review it would be much appreciated!

Twitter: Cosmic Button  
LiveJournal: miss_asha_s


	10. Chapter 10

A/N I updated a lot sooner than I thought I would. My interviews are all over! I want to thank everyone who wished me luck… I really appreciate it. Also, a few people were upset over Damon's comments last chapter and Elena's ability to forgive him so easily… the reasons behind it are briefly mentioned here. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The song is Warning Sign and very much belongs to Coldplay and not me… sadly. (You should listen to it when you see the lyrics come up). Also the show's characters aren't mine. *sigh*

* * *

_Elena was slammed against the wall, Damon's body pressing her into it. He held her hands in place above her head, pressed against the wall. His mouth hastily descended onto hers. __His tongue swept across her lips, seeking entrance and Elena opened her mouth to him with a whimper of unadulterated lust.__ Damon's hands let go of hers and travelled down her arms and down her sides until they reached her ass. He hoisted her up so that she could wrap her long bare legs around his waist. He pushed them of the wall, his mouth not leaving hers for a second, and dropped them onto her bed._

_His right arm moved to her foot and smoothly ran along her calf until they reached her thigh. They passed over her tiny shorts to the hem of her tank top. Elena mewled at the contact of his warm hand on her stomach. Damon gently teased her as he whispered his fingers along the width of her stomach causing her to shiver._

_Their mouths detached momentarily as Damon moved his mouth to her ear lobe to nibble on it lightly. Elena could not hold in her feelings, she was experiencing sensations she never even known had existed. _

"_Damon," she moaned in a voice she didn't even recognise. He continued his exploration of her body as he slowly yanked her tank top up a little so that her stomach was exposed. He moved down her body and left many quick kisses on her stomach that sent butterflies fluttering inside non-stop. He quickly yanked her tank top off her completely, having had enough of the annoying article of clothing. Damon paused in his ministrations to take in the sight of her beautiful, perky round breasts confined in a blood red bra._

_Elena took advantage of Damon's momentary amazement to flip them over so that she could take control for a while. She was eager to rip off his clothes to see what he'd been hiding from her. She quickly tore open his shirt breaking a couple buttons through her enthusiasm and threw it across her bedroom. As his perfect chest was revealed, she moved down his body so that she could plant kisses on his belly button. She agonisingly slowly kissed up his chest, wanting him to experience the pain and pleasure of waiting that she had gone through minutes ago. She reached his left nipple and closed her mouth around it causing Damon to groan and tighten his grip on her so that she wouldn't ever stop. She planted kisses along his chest until she reached his other nipple. A quick flick of it with her tongue broke Damon's control. He couldn't handle the torture. He needed her._

_He flipped them over again using his vampire powers so that he was on top again. Elena was processing how fast they switched positions and Damon took advantage of her daze to connect his lips to hers again. He kissed her passionately, never wanting to be separated ever again. His hands worked their way back to the top of her shorts and he made quick work of removing them. To his pleasure, he saw that Elena was wearing a matching set of lingerie._

_His lips ripped from hers as he moved to kiss her jaw, neck then collar bone and all she could do was moan in pleasure. "Oh God, yes Damon!" she shouted, "Please don't stop. Never stop!" _

_Damon's hands crept to her back and skilfully undid her bra. Her breasts were released from their imprisonment. Damon hastily ripped the material from her arms and feasted his eyes on her beauty. He kissed down her neck towards the valley of her breasts. He kissed around her breasts before he latched onto her nipple and __she made soft sounds of approval as he swirled his tongue over and around each nipple, suckling and blowing on them until they were perky and as hard as diamonds. His thumbs flicked over her nipples, rubbing over and around them in a soft, circular motion making Elena whimper in need. "Damon, please I need you," she weakly cried._

"_Where do you need me Elena? Tell me, and I'll be right there," he smirked, wanting her to beg him._

"_I need you down south," she whimpered, trying to stay modest despite all the dirty things he was doing to her body._

"_I'm not sure I know what you mean, do you mean here?" he questioned kissing her toes. The frustrated growl that left her mouth made Damon's cocky grin grow larger. It wasn't the only thing growing larger._

"_Please Damon, I need you here," she moaned, indicating to her panty-covered core. _

"_You should have said so earlier, that was my next destination!" Damon laughed as Elena let out another cry of frustration. Not wanting her to get incredibly angry at him for postponing her release, Damon quickly stroked her slit through her underwear. Her panties were soaking wet, and when he slipped his finger inside the elastic, to touch her slick, heated flesh, he had never felt so proud at his abilities to seduce a woman. He quickly removed her last garment and promptly pumped one long finger in and out of her at a slow and torturous pace._

* * *

Elena's eyes snapped open. She couldn't believe she had the sex dream for the third night in a row. This was getting out of hand. It had gone further than it had the previous two nights. She quickly turned her head to the side and was thankful to see Damon was still peacefully sleeping. She prayed that she had not moaned out loud. She would die from embarrassment if Damon found out she was having intense sex dreams about him.

She had never had such hard-core sex dreams in her life. Just remembering the images her mind had conjured up made her cheeks flame red. The dampness in her panties was getting uncomfortable and she had to move out of bed and take a shower to make sure that Damon never smelt it. She wasn't quite sure how good his sense of smell was as a vampire.

Elena left the ensuite freshly washed and fully dressed to find that Damon was no longer asleep in bed. She headed towards the kitchen and found Damon making her an English breakfast. Just seeing him was giving her flashes of her dream and making her feel tingly inside.

"Mmhm that smells so good!" Damon smiled at Elena.

"Only the best for the most gorgeous woman." Elena blushed at Damon's words. They really meant something to her. _'Come on, the guy is beautiful, if he thinks you're gorgeous that's an achievement.' _Damon had been incredibly sweet to her all week – she could tell he felt guilty for his less than kind remarks from when he was drunk and had felt that she had forgiven him too easily. In Elena's mind though it hadn't been a big deal for two reasons: firstly, what he said wasn't true and secondly, she knew he didn't mean it. His actions for making up for it reflected that.

Damon filled her plate with bacon, sausage, eggs and toast and then got a plateful of food for himself. He went to the microwave and took out the mug of blood that he had just warmed up.

"So are you spending the day with, Caroline or Bonnie or Jenna or what today?" Damon asked trying his best to seem nonchalant and not look as though he was prying. Elena had spent the best part of the last week with her friends catching up with their lives. She wanted to see them because she didn't want her life-changing amnesia to cause her to push out the people that cared about her. It was just an added bonus – in some ways - that it meant she didn't have to look at Damon so often and drool at him. The dreams she had been having were igniting a fire in her that she was finding hard to put out. She did miss his company though. Things between them had stayed completely platonic between them since the few kisses she had placed on his face last week. There hadn't even been any inappropriate incidences in the bedroom. It seemed Damon was genuinely glad just to sleep in his bed again and that he wasn't looking to seduce her.

Things between Bonnie and her had been getting better as well, which Elena was happy about, after all Bonnie had been one of her best friends her whole life. After the initial awkwardness of the Stefan issue and after Bonnie realised that Elena was not a threat to her relationship they were able to laugh and joke again. Caroline had been a really good friend to Elena in last week, helping her settle in better and generally just supporting her. They had both felt guilty for what they had said about her and Damon the first time they met up when Elena had woken up from her coma.

"Damon," Elena sighed loudly.

"Elena!" Damon mocked.

"You don't remember do you?" Damon furrowed his eyebrows trying to think if he had forgotten something special but he came up with nothing. "Today is Matt's birthday party at the Grill, I told you about it last night!" Elena huffed.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Oh that. Do we have to go?" he whined.

"Yes we have to go," Elena replied annoyed. Damon sighed dramatically.

"Fine, but you better scrub up nicely, so that it will be worth it." Damon winked at her before leaving to take his own shower.

* * *

Elena stood in front of the mirror in her one-shouldered teal Grecian drape dress that stopped mid-way up her thighs. She had found the dress at the back of her closet with the tag still on so she knew she had never worn it before. She complemented the look with gold hoop earrings and a pair of 5-inch mesh heels that covered her whole foot and that she immediately fell in love with. She had curled her hair and applied her make-up. Her eyes were accentuated with gold eye-shadow, liquid eyeliner and mascara, whilst her lips looked inviting as she applied a glossy red lipstick to it.

A wolf-whistle caused Elena to turn around and smile. Damon was looking at her with hungry eyes that made her feel really hot. _'Is there no window that I can open?'_ Damon walked up to her and leant down only a little - the height of the heels had brought her only an inch or two shorter than Damon – and he placed a quick, chaste kiss on her right cheek. Elena could immediately feel her cheeks heating up. There was no doubt that a blush was present on them. It had been the first time all week that either of them had placed a kiss on each other. "You look gorgeous," he whispered into her ear. The feel of his breath in her ear made her knees almost buckle.

"You don't look that far off gorgeous yourself Mr Salvatore," Elena replied in the most sultry voice she could muster. A smirk appeared on his face and just the presence of it caused a smile to form on Elena's. "Come on, we should go or we're going to be late," Elena said whilst lightly pushing Damon's chest back to create a little space between them so that she could breathe again. His close presence was doing wonders to her body; she could feel it humming in anticipation.

They had decided to take Damon's car to the party as Elena refused to walk in her heels, insisting she would die from pain; the argument appealed to Damon's protective nature and so he was all too willing to agree with her to take the car.

* * *

As they walked in, they noticed the party was in full swing. Elena walked towards Matt and said her 'happy birthday' to him but he was already so drunk she doubted he would even remember her presence at the party. When she turned around though, she realised Damon was no longer behind her, she had lost sight of him.

She looked around the room only to notice her friends huddled together. _'I'll look for Damon after I see them.' _Before Elena knew it, chatting with her brother Jeremy, his girlfriend Anna and Tyler had actually made time fly by. She realised she still had no idea where Damon was and so she excused herself to find him.

Elena didn't have to look hard and far to find him. He was quite typically at the bar. What confused Elena was that he was laughing and animatedly chatting with a blonde, gorgeous leggy woman. She was leaning in close to him as she spoke and listened to what he said. _'Who is she? How is Damon getting on so well with her? Is she flirting with him?' _Elena didn't want her thoughts to get the better of her and so she decided to just walk up to them rather than getting herself worried about things that didn't exist.

Elena made her presence known by slipping her hand into Damon's as soon as she reached the pair.

"Hey," Elena said to him, almost completely ignoring the woman who was also present. Elena knew she was being rude but a feeling in her gut didn't give her a good feeling about the woman. Damon looked down at their interlinked hands. He was undoubtedly a little confused by the show of affection but he wasn't going to argue. He would willingly take anything Elena wanted to offer him.

"Hey, are you having a good time?"

"Yep," Elena smiled. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh that's right you don't remember. Elena, this is Andie," Damon said motioning towards the tall blonde. "Andie, you obviously know Elena."

"Indeed, I know you don't remember me but we're great friends Elena!" Somehow Elena wasn't so sure she believed that statement.

"Well, it's great to meet-"

"Oh my god!" Andie interrupted. "I love this song so much! Damon please can you dance with me?" Andie asked fluttering her eyelashes and pouting. The look made Elena cringe and want to strangle her.

Elena stayed at the bar and ordered herself a double shot of vodka. She watched like a hawk as Andie and _her _husband made their way to the dancefloor. It took all her willpower to stop herself from storming up the couple as Andie put her arm lazily on Damon's shoulder and started swinging her hips from side to side to the music. Elena didn't recognise the song but she was sure it was probably released recently – within the last four years. She came to the decision that she hated the song and whoever the artist who sang the song was. She didn't care if she had liked the song before; she despised it now; just like she despised the woman in a dress that barely covered her ass that was dancing seductively with her husband.

Elena swung her head back and downed her drink, ordering a second one and repeating the process whilst still keeping an eye on Andie and Damon to make sure neither crossed the line that they were very close to. She took her next drink and walked towards the corner so that she could stare at them less obviously.

She downed her next drink and looked at the dancefloor again only to notice that Damon and Andie were no longer there. Panic started to rise inside Elena. _'He hasn't gone off with her has he?'_

"Green really isn't your colour," Damon whispered into Elena's ear from behind her. Having not realised he was there she jumped, startled by his presence.

"I thought you said you liked my dress!" Elena replied pretending to be oblivious.

Damon rolled his eyes at her clear avoidance of the topic at hand.

"Elena!"

"Damon!" she mocked as he did earlier that day. Damon raised one eyebrow; he was not impressed. "Okay fine I was a little jealous. Well not jealous per say, more annoyed that you were letting another woman grind up against you. You have a wife you know… and I might not have my memories but I sure as hell have eyes," she snapped.

"We're just friends Elena and that was hardly dirty dancing," Damon remarked.

"Yes well I wasn't comfortable with it," Elena explained.

Damon smiled, "okay well then I won't do it again."

"Thank you." Silence fell over them for a few seconds neither knowing what to say next. "So how did you become friends with Andie?" Elena tried to not sound too curious but she doubted that she got away with it.

"She was there for me during some tough times and we've just always stayed in touch I guess," Damon explained, not wanting to be too detailed. Elena picked up on the vague response and her heart started pumping faster and the possible reasons why.

"Does being there for you meaning having sex with you?" Elena asked - shocked by her ability to get the question out without giving away how important the answer was.

Damon paused before answering truthfully, "yes but she was also someone I could talk to."

Elena started seeing red. She was not pleased with his answer. "You couldn't talk to me?"

"This was before you and me, Elena. Besides most of what I talked about was just you."

"You talk about me with her?" Elena asked her voice rising. Damon nodded mutely, realising he may have said the wrong thing. He's had this argument with Elena countless times but this time was different seeing as she didn't remember Andie. Elena had always disliked the woman but this was the first time he could really see how much. This was even without having already witnessed Andie and him in their weird concocted relationship. "Is there any girl left in Mystic Falls that you haven't fucked?" she shouted exasperatedly.

"Come on Elena, don't be like that," Damon said frustrated by her attitude.

"Well, is there?" Elena asked again, not backing down.

"Well… let me think," Damon said furrowing his eyebrows in deep thought.

"Oh my God!"

"Oh right, I haven't slept with Bonnie and don't worry I'm not going anywhere near that thing!" Damon said shuddering at the thought.

"Oh wow, congratulations Damon," Elena mock clapped, "you've not fucked one of my friends."

"Elena, we've been through this. Yes, I liked to sleep around. I've been alive for 170 years. I've fucked a lot of women. But there's only one woman I've ever loved and there's only one woman I'll ever love."

Elena's eyes softened at his words. She knew he meant them but somehow it was hard to let go of the fact that Damon could have any woman he wanted, scratch that, he had gotten any woman he wanted. What if she lost whatever was special about herself that kept Damon with her?

"Okay," she whispered. Damon continued to look at her wearily, to make sure she was really over their little argument.

"Good… now care to dance with me?" Damon grinned. Elena felt the small smile on her face grow as she nodded.

As they walked onto the dancefloor the song changed into a slow one and the DJ dedicated it to all the couples. Elena's smile grew larger when she realised it was a song that was older than four years and so she recognised it!

Damon pulled her in close and wrapped his hands around her waist. Elena leant in closer and wrapped one of her arms around his neck whilst she placed the other on his right shoulder. They slowly swayed to the song.

_Come on in__  
__I've gotta tell you what a state I'm in__  
__I've gotta tell you in my loudest tones__  
__That I started looking for a warning sign_

_When the truth is, I miss you__  
__Yeah the truth is, that I miss you so_

Elena closed her eyes and basked in the feelings of having his arms wrapped tightly around her. She felt safe and calm for the first time since her accident. Damon pressed his forehead to Elena's and just smiled. He was feeling happy for the first time since her accident.

_A warning sign__  
__It came back to haunt me, and I realised__  
__That you were an island and I passed you by__  
__And you were an island to discover_

Damon breathed in deeply wanting to remember how heavenly she smelt. He wanted to commit every second of this dance to his memory. For all he knew, Elena would crawl back into her shell and pull away from him again. He had to take advantage of the moments she gave him.

_When the truth is, I miss you__  
__Yeah the truth is, that I miss you so_

_So I crawl back into your open arms__  
__Yes I crawl back into your open arms_

Elena pulled away from Damon as the song finished. She was tired. The dance had somehow been emotionally draining and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed again with Damon's warm body beside her.

"I'm tired, can we go home?" she whispered. The way she said the words made Damon's heart swell. She could be so cute sometimes. He nodded his head slowly and leant forward to press a kiss on her temple before leaving to get their coats.

As Elena waited for him to return, she looked around and noticed that Matt was lying passed out on one of the sofa chairs and yet the party was still in full swing. Elena's smile widened as she spotted Andie with a drink in her hand, staring daggers at her. There was no way Andie was ever going to get her claws into Damon again.

As soon as Damon had helped her put her coat back on she grabbed his hand and walked out the Grill; content with how the evening had ended.

* * *

A/N Please leave a review with your thoughts! I'm really nervous about the sort of smut scene at the beginning. I've never really written smut and I hope it was even a little enjoyable and not too awkward. I think the only way I'll improve is through practicing. ;)

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	11. Chapter 11

A/N I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, alerting & favouriting this story, it really means so much to me! I'm so happy so many of you are enjoying this story. I'm also really happy right now because I got my first offer to study dentistry at university yesterday! I really thought I may end up on a gap year… so I'm over the moon at the moment!

The song featured in this chapter is 'Something Good Can Work' by Two Door Cinema Club. (Disclaimer: I do not own the song.) But when I mention the song I want all of you to go on youtube and listen to it! I really want you guys to see it in the way that I do. Oh and if you haven't heard any TDCC before, get their album! Not one song is bad! Anyway onto the story. :)

* * *

Elena's eyes slowly fluttered open. A few days had gone by and still the same dream was on repeat with a little more being revealed each time. The dreams were leading to sexual frustration which was making her snappy at everyone. Damon had backed off a little after she had snapped at him for the most trivial things. She had felt bad but then she remembered that he was to blame. If he wasn't so damn sexy she would not be dreaming of him and she would certainly not be feeling this way.

Just as Elena was going to roll out of bed to take yet another early shower, she realised that Damon was not sleeping beside her. She frowned at the realisation that she didn't like that fact that she was waking up without him beside her. Then her eyes widened in shock. _'Shit! Did I moan out loud whilst I was dreaming?'_ She would truly die from embarrassment if he knew her dirty thoughts about him.

She quickly realised he was taking a shower considering the background noise of the shower that she hadn't processed, turned off. As she sat up in bed, Damon exited the ensuite… in only a white fluffy towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets were dripping slowly down his chest and disappearing under the towel. Elena was pretty certain she was in the midst of hyperventilating. She had never seen a sexier sight in her life.

She swallowed, before clearing her voice to make sure it didn't come out raspy. "Morning."

Damon looked at her, his cocky smirk in place. He was beaming inside. He still had the same effect on her. He could tell that she was attracted to him at this very moment in time, he just wasn't so sure if she was always attracted to him. Had this been a few months ago, he would have marched straight over to way she lay and thoroughly ravaged her. Except this wasn't a few months ago and even though he was her husband, her other half, he felt like he didn't have the right to kiss her senseless. The cards were firmly in her hands. She had to make the first move. She had to come to him when she was ready. If he went to her, he risked the chance of pushing her further away.

"Morning, the water's still hot if you want to take your shower now," he informed her.

She smiled tightly "thanks," she bit out, glad that he had given her an out to escape his presence. She scarpered towards the bathroom and quickly closed the door, so that she was no longer tempted by his exquisite body.

* * *

As she exited the ensuite, she noticed Damon had already left the room. She quickly found a matching pair of light blue undergarments to put on and walked towards the closet to find something to wear on top.

Damon was in the kitchen, when he realised he'd left his mobile in the bedroom. He was expecting a text from Alaric. Tyler had suggested they meet up for drinks but Alaric wasn't sure if Jenna would let him out. He was so whipped.

As he vampire sped back up the stairs he opened the door to his bedroom and was not prepared for the sight before him. Apparently his wrapped-in-only-a-towel look had to be outdone.

Elena turned around as soon as she heard the door to the room open. Panic rose up in her. Before she knew it, Damon was there with his eyes glued to her. She screamed at the intrusion. "Damon!" He didn't seem to react to her; he just stood frozen, eyes roaming her body, covered in only a bra and barely-there panties.

"Damon!" she shouted, trying to get his attention back towards her face. This time his eyes snapped up to where she wanted them.

He blinked several times before responding properly. "I'm sorry Elena, it really wasn't planned! I just needed to grab my phone," he said pointing towards the nightstand, without taking his eyes away from her.

Elena quickly grabbed her discarded towel and wrapped it tightly around her body to shield it from his prying eyes. "Well go get it then!"

Damon cleared his throat, snapping back into reality and away from the hundreds of dirty thoughts that were spinning around his head. "Right," he said weakly before quickly grabbing his phone and scurrying out of the room. He closed the door behind him before leaning back against it, closing his eyes in frustration and hitting his head against it a couple times.

* * *

Elena took her time getting ready wanting to spend as much time avoiding her next encounter with Damon. She stayed in her room to read a book she randomly picked off one of the bookshelves in the library. As she turned on her side whilst reading her book, her eyes caught the wedding photo that she had often stared at. It reminded her of something she had been meaning to ask Damon. _'I guess now is as good a time as ever to see him again.'_ It was not as though she could avoid him considering they lived in the same house, and resided in the same room!

She closed her book and made her way out of the room. As she walked down the stairs she spotted Damon in the parlour. She knew that he knew she was there. Vampire hearing meant it was quite hard to catch him off-guard. That being said they'd both been caught off-guard earlier.

Tension began to fill the room quickly and Elena knew she had to start speaking before it reached uncontrollable levels. She was going to brush the incident under the carpet and pretend it never happened.

"Hey I have a question."

"Fire away!" Damon said pretending to be too preoccupied with trying to pour the contents of his bag of blood into a mug without missing a drop.

"Do we have some kind of wedding video?"

Damon swivelled around, "what?" he asked his eyebrows knitting together.

"A wedding video, do we have one?" Elena asked slowly. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Well yeah, why are you asking? Do you want to see it?"

"No, I want to set it on fire," she sarcastically replied, "of course I want to see it! Why else would I ask if we have one?" Damon shrugged realising his question was a little stupid, even if he would never admit it out loud.

"Can you go get it? I'll make the popcorn!"

"Were turning this into some kind of movie showing?"

"You can't watch a video without popcorn!"

"You really don't change," Damon said laughing as he headed out the room to find the video. Elena stood in place, '_had we had a conversation about popcorn and movies before?'_

Before she could dwell any longer on the thought, Damon blurred back in front of her dangling the video tape in front of her face.

Damon took one end of the couch and Elena took the other side, the popcorn in a bowl between them. Most of the tension in the room had dissipated but there was still a little lingering.

The video began and Elena smiled seeing that it was a home-made one and not some overly edited professional one.

Caroline was holding the video camera smiling into the lens. "It's wedding day!" she squealed as she burst into the room to wake Elena up. Music kicked in and Elena did not recognise it but along the bottom of the screen came up the title: 'Something Good Can Work'. She smiled at the title, something good can definitely work…

Elena saw a younger version of herself smiling into the high definition video camera. Tears brimmed her eyes as she saw how genuinely happy she was. The popcorn lay forgotten as she immersed herself in the video. She didn't even notice how Damon was watching her rather than the screen.

The film fast forwarded through Elena getting ready for her big day, focusing on the strapping of her dress and the insertion of her earrings and other jewellery. They were little taster teases of what she would look like without giving away the whole image.

The camera panned to a garden which she immediately recognised as the backyard of the boarding house. '_So we had the wedding at home.'_ The camera panned on the beautiful plush green grass and the exotic flowers. Little white wicker folding chairs had been set up for the guests on either side of an aisle consisting of a white carpet with many red rose petals littered along it. The theme had been white and red.

Her breath hitched as the focus fell on Damon smiling whilst laughing and hugging Stefan who seemed to be his best man. Her husband was absolutely stunning. Her heart constricted at his beauty. He looked so happy. Elena was having a hard time keeping the tears in seeing how perfect everything was.

_There's a spanner in the works you know__  
__You gotta step up your game to make to the top so go, oh__  
__Got a little competition now, you're going to find it hard__  
__To cope with living on your own now, uh, oh, uh, oh_

Elena watched the screen as Caroline and Bonnie walked the aisle looking gorgeous in their strapless form-hugging red bridesmaid's dresses. Elena waited in anticipation to see herself appear on screen. Her eyes widened at the form that appeared on screen. She looked absolutely beautiful… even if she did say so herself. She was wearing a dress which had a fitted ruched bodice, accented by gorgeous lace material and hand-sewn beaded detail. The shoulder straps were made of lace and had a snow-flake like pattern. There was an extra satin layer like a sash going from waist down and around her dress. Her brunette hair had been curled and pulled all over her right side. It was tied together with a piece of her hair wrapped around it all so that it looked like it was the hair tie.

_Let's make this happen, girl we're gonna show the world that something good can work  
And it can work for you.__  
__And you know that it will._

Jeremy walked her down the aisle. Her skin was sun-kissed and she was positively beaming. Elena watched herself on-screen. There was no way she would have ever thought she could look so beautiful. Everything was done to perfection – her dress, her hair and even her make-up.

As she reached Damon he grabbed both of her hands as they beamed at each other. _'Wow, look at his eyes. How is it possible that they can get even more intense? He loves me. He really loves me.' _

The video cut to their vows as the music drowned out. The tears finally ran down her cheeks as she listened to Damon's heart-warming, thought-out words. Her own were even filled with so much love and promise that her heart swelled in hope that maybe they'd one day get back to this.

As the minister gave pronounced them man and wife and gave them permission to kiss the music in the background soared back loudly again. She watched intently as Damon leant forward and captured her lips. The kiss was passionate but soft and slow and completely appropriate for a wedding. As they pulled back a little Damon pressed a few simple butterfly kisses on her lips not wanting to separate from her quite yet.

_Let's make this happen, girl we're gonna show the world that something good can work  
And it can work for you.__  
__And you know that it will._

_Let's get this started girl, we're moving up we're moving up It's been a lot to change  
But you will always get what you want._

The rest of the video showed the dancefloor where everyone was twirling in all directions. It was magical. Elena had her arms wrapped around Damon's neck, with the largest smile on her face as they swayed happily to the music. Damon leant forward and whispered something in her ear that got the Elena on-screen giggling. The video faded to black as the music slowly faded away too.

Elena sat in silence taking in the most beautiful video she had ever seen in her life. She slowly turned her head, almost too scared to see his face. He was staring intently at her and she couldn't read his face at all – it was blank.

"That day looks beautiful," she commented honestly breaking the silence that had fallen.

"That beautiful day was one of the best days of my life," he said quietly as he leant forward, removing the popcorn bowl between them and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Elena's eyes lit up at his words – they were simple yet powerful.

"Only one of the best?" Elena asked with an eyebrow raised. Damon chuckled at her response before bringing his face closer to hers.

"Yes, why? Was it the best day of your life?" he joked. Elena rolled her eyes at his memory joke.

She shrugged, "It might have been." Damon smirked at her response. "So what other days have been the best in your life?" she asked curiously. _'What could be better than your wedding day? Hell I saw the video, it looks like the best wedding to ever exist!' _

Damon smiled knowingly, "Living on earth for 170 years means you're bound to have some pretty great days," he explained. Elena nodded her head pretending as though it didn't bother her that he felt a day at some Beatles concert was as special as their wedding day. Damon's eyes filled with laughter at watching how Elena tried not to be affected by his words. Sometimes, she was as easy to read as a Harry Potter book.

He moved his face even closer to hers until all he could see in his direct view was her. He placed his right hand under her chin so that he could make sure she wouldn't turn her head away – besides any contact with her was good enough for him. "All those wonderful days have a common denominator. You were in every single one," he whispered. Elena's eyes widened at his words and her heart started pounding. Before she could even process what she was doing she was leaning in closer to Damon, her eyes focused on her destination – his lips. They were literally a hair's breadth away but before any contact could be made, Bonnie's voice rang through the halls. Elena jumped a mile at the sound and quickly pulled away from Damon.

"Hey! We're still on for girl's pizza night tonight right?" Bonnie asked as she reached the parlour. Her eyes squinted a little as she saw the couple and could clearly see Elena's flustered behaviour.

"Yeah, yeah of course," Elena replied, her thoughts all over the place. She had to stop herself from laughing as she heard Damon mumble a string of curse words at the interruption.

Before Damon could get a word in edgeways Elena excused herself from the parlour.

* * *

"Pizza's arrived! I'm gonna get the door!" Elena shouted her voice ringing throughout the boarding house. She opened the door to pay the delivery guy and left the door open as she spotted Caroline making her way to the house.

Damon had left earlier to hang out with the 'guys' excluding Stefan who had decided to go hunting.

"So did I like interrupt you and Damon in the middle of something?" Bonnie asked in her best fake nonchalant voice.

"What? Something happened? Why do I always miss the good stuff!" Caroline burst.

Elena's face turned red and she had to look away from the penetrating stares of her friends. "We were watching the little wedding video trailer that was made and –"

"Oh I love that video!" Caroline interrupted "it's so cute! And I'm at the beginning of it!"

"Yeah the wedding looked absolutely perfect. I wish I could remember it you know?" Bonnie and Caroline nodded their heads in understanding. Of course she would want to remember, who wouldn't? "Anyway I guess watching it just evoked a lot of emotions in me. It was like the love on screen was diffusing into me. Does that make sense?" Elena chuckled embarrassed by her feelings.

"It's perfectly understandable honey. The wedding was a happy day," Caroline said as she moved closer to stroke Elena's hair soothingly.

"It's totally understandable. What you were seeing on screen was day full of love and you'd obviously be affected by it." Bonnie agreed. "Did anything happen after the video ended?"

Elena cleared her throat. "No, well sort off." She ran a hand through her hair trying to gather her thoughts together. "I almost kissed Damon."

"What?" Caroline squealed, "That's progress!"

"Oh so that's why Damon looked so pissed off," Bonnie said, understanding dawning on her.

"I know, but I'm actually really glad that Bonnie walked in just before it would have happened."

Bonnie frowned. "What? Really?" She wasn't used to seeing this Elena. The Elena of the last four years would have had absolutely no reservations when it came to kissing Damon. If anything should would have been wearing the same expression as Damon when she interrupted.

"Yeah, I don't think that I'm actually ready to take that step. I think that I was just caught up in the moment," Elena explained, not entirely sure if she really meant it or if she was trying to convince herself that that was the case.

* * *

Meanwhile, Damon, Alaric & Tyler were hanging out at the Grill as Matt served them.

"Another bourbon!" Damon called out to Matt.

"Whoa you might wanna slow down mate!" Alaric called. "What happened this time?"

"Nothing," he grumbled. Ric raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him and waited for a proper response; one that was bound to burst out of him.

Like clockwork Damon spoke again, "Elena and I nearly kissed."

Tyler's eyes widened at the revelation. "That's great! So why are glum, chum?" he said laughing at his words. He was clearly already tipsy.

"I don't know. Well first off, it didn't happen, Bonnie had to interrupt us. And secondly, well I don't know. I should be happy but for some reason I'm not. It feels like Elena and I are still so far apart. Do you get what I mean?" Damon asked finding it hard to form the right words to clearly explain his feelings.

"Well yeah, you guys were attached at the hip before!" Alaric pointed out, "Just give it time." Damon nodded. Ric was right. He and Elena would get back to that place at some point. Besides an almost kiss was a step in that direction. Right?

* * *

Twitter: CosmicButton… follow me if you want to know more about updates/myself. Besides you can pester me to update here ;)

LJ: miss_asha_s If you want to see the wedding dress that I describe Elena wearing you can find it on my LJ, I put it in a public post so you should be able to see it… I think.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N Hi guys. Sorry for the wait! I hope everyone is doing well. I got my second university offer from Leeds so I'm really happy , although my January results weren't very good, I'm going to have to knuckle down for when the June exams arrive! There may be some grammatical mistakes in the chapter because if I'm honest I got really lazy when proof-reading it!

* * *

'_Dammit, how can I still be having this dream?'_

It had once again gone further than ever before. It had entered the realms of oral sex and that left Elena in an incredibly uncomfortable position that morning.

Her body was on fire. She could still feel the remnants of the dream. She could still feel what it felt like to have Damon's talented hands running all over her body.

It was only then that it dawned on her that what she feeling was not entirely down to the consequences of the dream. One of Damon's hands was tracing light circles on her stomach causing butterflies to erupt within her. The hand slowly crept up until it reached the bottom of her bra. Elena started breathing heavily, his hand was so close.

There was no way he could be doing this unconsciously it felt too good. Elena's eyes snapped to his face, to make sure he was actually sleep. Although his face looked serene and his breathing was regular, Elena wasn't entirely convinced he was sleeping. No-one can be that could with their hands when they were conscious let alone unconscious!

Damon started tracing the outline of her breasts and Elena had to bite her lip to prevent any sounds escaping her. _'What the hell am I supposed to do? Do I wake him up? But it feels so good!'_

Damon's hand slipped underneath her bra and slowly rubbed soft circles around her nipple. That was the last straw, Elena couldn't hold it in any longer, she moaned out loud, "Oh Damon!" Damon's hand stilled as he was thrown back into consciousness.

His eyes immediately caught hers and she could see the confusion in them. He still hadn't become fully aware of their surrounding and his actions. She saw the clarification almost immediately after though as his hand squeezed her right breast. A whimper escaped her and Damon removed his hand so fast, as though it was on fire.

His quickly sat upright and squinted at her, trying to see if what he thought had just been happening had indeed been what was happening. When he saw how flushed Elena was, he knew. He tilted his head back towards the ceiling and covered his eyes with his hands. A few seconds later he removed them and addressed Elena, who was still a little shocked over what had been happening.

"Oh God, Elena. I swear it wasn't intentional! I don't, I d-don't," he stuttered, scared he had caused harm to their fragile relationship. "I don't even know. I mean, I know how it happened but I didn't know that I was-"

Elena smashed her lips onto his, effectively shutting him up. She pulled herself closer and passionately kissed him with all she had. It wasn't long before he was responding with equal fervour. Her tongue ran along the bottom of his lip and he gladly opened his mouth up to her. Her tongue darted into his mouth in eagerness to rediscover every inch of him.

One of Damon's hands went under her shirt and came into contact with her breasts again – this time knowingly. He hand applied pressure to her right nipple and gave it a firm pinch causing her to squeal. His hand moved to her other breast to rub slow yet firm circles around the nipple. "Yes Damon!" she called out, pleased with the attention he was giving her.

Without thinking she started stroking him through his boxers. His muffled sound of approval filled her with dizzying excitement, and satisfaction. However, this was short-lived as he quickly jerked himself away from her. '_Did I do something wrong?'_

"What the hell are we doing Elena?" he asked, still breathing hard after the bruising kisses.

"Kissing."

"Don't play dumb. Seriously what is this?"

"Umm I don't know," she admitted truthfully.

"Okay, has this got something to do with the reason you haven't been sleeping well lately?"

Elena's face turned red immediately. "Wh- what?"

"Come Elena, did you really think I wouldn't notice that you haven't been sleeping properly? You love sleeping in, yet since I've moved back into the room, you've been rising much earlier than you usually do," Damon said pointedly.

Elena was at a loss of words. _'He noticed?' _"It's nothing," she hastily lied.

Damon sighed, "It's not nothing Elena. You need your sleep. Is me sleeping here, bothering you? I mean I'm sorry about the whole touching thing. If I'm honest, it's a feat in itself that we hadn't woken up touching before."

Elena gulped at his words and decided it would not be best to correct him that they had indeed been waking up wrapped close to each other. She had just extricated herself every time before he woke up. "I've just been having a reoccurring dream that's been bugging me. It's got nothing to do with anything else."

Damon furrowed his eyebrows. He was a little relieved that her inability to sleep wasn't because she was uncomfortable with him sleeping so close to her. It had been bugging him for days and he was glad he finally plucked up the courage to ask her. But now he was just more confused than ever. _'Why did she kiss me? Was it just lust? Is she completely over her feelings for Stefan?'_ The questions were never-ending.

"What are the dreams about Elena?" Damon asked firmly.

"I don't want to talk about it." Elena's face was slowly turning red, just thinking about the dreams. There was no way she was going to tell him.

"Elena, I am not giving you a choice," Damon snapped, "what are you dreams about?"

Elena recognised this Damon. This was typical old Damon. Somehow in her head she had separated Damon into old Damon and new Damon. What she was slowly realising though was that new Damon was still old Damon but a little different because he loved her.

Elena jutted out her chin in defiance. She wasn't going to cave to Damon's demands.

"That's none of your business!"

"Okay if you don't want to discuss the dreams. Why don't we go back to the original question? What the hell was up with the kiss?"

Elena's mind went blank. _'Okay maybe I should have just let him continue his line of questioning about my dreams.'_

"I don't know Damon," she rushed, "it just came out of nowhere. I thought I wasn't ready and then bam! With what was going on I just had to jump you. I just had to have a taste, you know? I don't know if it was curiosity, or old feelings or new feelings or a combination of both. My mind is just all over the place these days," she rambled. "It's just what with you feeling me up; I just lost control of my body. Maybe it's what I secretly want? I don't know. But combined with the sex dream it just wasn't-" Elena immediately stopped talking and clamped her mouth shut.

'_Shit! What did I just say? Just don't say anything else. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING! He might not of heard you… oh who are you kidding he's a freaking vampire, of course he heard you!' _

Damon's smirk slowly worked itself onto his face. "And what sex dream exactly would that be Elena?"

Elena gulped, "Ummm… err…"

"Yes?" he said stressing the word, whilst raising his voice higher.

'_Dammit Elena, dammit Elena! Why did you have to open your big mouth? He's never going to let this go. Distract him!'_

Elena immediately leaned forward and connected her lips to Damon's again. Damon almost succumbed to her but he knew exactly what she was doing and although a part of him just wanted to keep kissing her (he had struggled through weeks without it!) a bigger part of him knew not to let her evading tactics distract him. He pulled his lips apart from hers and watched Elena wilt, knowing she had lost.

"Elena," he said seriously. "Stop trying to distract me. Have you been having sex dreams about me?"

Elena had given up. She was just going to tell him the truth, and hope he wouldn't laugh and mock her. "Not per say." Damon's eyebrows rose incredulously at her words. "It's just the same sex dream again and again."

"Okay."

"Okay? Is that all you have to say?" Elena said, annoyed by Damon's casual response.

Damon sighed, "what would you like me to say? Would you like me to ask you for details?"

"No," Elena replies quietly.

"I thought so."

An awkward silence started to fill the room. Elena scrambled to come up with a topic of conversation to end the silence but absolutely nothing came to mind. It was Damon who broke the silence, but it was hardly a move away from the topic at hand.

"So was the dream the reason you kissed me?" he asked quietly.

She paused for a while before answering back just as quietly, "no."

"So is this a step forward in our rebuilt relationship then?" he asked slowly.

"I guess you could say that."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Can I kiss you?"

"I guess so."

Damon crashed his lips onto Elena's. To say he was happy with the way the day had started would be putting it lightly. He could finally touch his Elena in the wicked ways he had been wanting to. It had ached to keep his distance from her these past few weeks. Kissing her felt like he was back where he belonged.

Elena moaned. _'God who knew kissing could be so enjoyable!'_ They broke apart for a second; Elena needed air. Before their lips reattached, her stomach let out a growl.

"Hmm looks like I'm hungry!"

Damon laughed, "I am not letting you out of this bed missy," he said pinning her down to the bed. "Food can come later!" He buried his head into Elena's neck placing butterfly kisses all along it.

"Damon!" She tried to yell at him to get off, but she could hardly get the words out; she was giggling too much. "Damon, I need to eat!" she squealed. He had started tickling her sides and that had caused her to start wriggling like a maniac.

By some kind of a miracle she had managed to escape his grasp and quickly took the opportunity to run out of the room, all the while she was still laughing. She almost tripped over her own feet as she ran as fast as she could to escape Damon. Her sides were hurting from her laughter and her vision was going blurry from the tears of joy welling up in her eyes, but she didn't slow down as she raced down the stairs. As she made it into the hallway she decided to take a risk and have a quick glance behind her to see how far away Damon was. As she turned, she gasped and almost had a heart attack from the surprise at seeing Damon right behind her. He grabbed her by the waist and swung her around before depositing her on a couch in the parlour.

"Tut, tut, tut Elena. You'd think that by now you'd realise you have absolutely no chance in outrunning a vampire. I even gave you a ten second head start!" he said condescendingly.

"Oops! Forgot about that," she replied sheepishly.

"Seems to be a common occurrence with you lately," he joked as she rolled her eyes at another poor memory joke.

"Haha, very funny," she said sarcastically. "I'm starving. Make me some breakfast, Salvatore!"

Damon raised his eyebrows at her demanding tone. He clearly wasn't impressed at being ordered around by his wife. There were only certain situations where he liked her to be in charge…

"Please?" she added weakly.

"That's better."

Elena couldn't stop smiling and giggling. Somehow the change in their relationship status had caused her to become incredibly happy and giddy and it was like she had all this extra energy inside her that she needed to dispel. As she entered the kitchen she came into an abrupt stop. Had Damon not had vampire reflexes, he would have definitely rammed into the back of her.

"Stefan," she whispered. For some reason, feeling happy with Damon made her feel a little guilty when she was reminded of how she moved on from Stefan to his brother. Even though the rational part of her knew that Stefan had Bonnie and that he had moved on – his behaviour in the wedding video proving so – she still felt the remnants of guilt and she didn't think it would disappear anytime soon.

"Morning guys," he said solemnly staring at some pieces of paper in his hands.

"Oh wow and I thought my brother couldn't get any broodier. Clearly I was wrong." Stefan just gave Damon a dirty look in response. "So why the face?" he asked whilst quickly making maple syrup pancakes for Elena.

Stefan sighed as he put down the papers he was holding in his hands. "Bonnie and I were supposed to go to a musical today, but she somehow forgot that she had an evening class at college and now she can't make it," he explained glumly.

Damon placed the plate of pancakes in front of Elena, who immediately began munching into them.

Damon tried to hold in his laughter but he couldn't help a few chuckles escaping. "Wait let me get this straight. You're upset because you can't go to a musical with your girlfriend?"

Stefan glared at Damon again as he continued to laugh. "I'll come with you Stefan." Damon's laughter stopped immediately. _'What the hell had Elena just said?'_

"Really?" Stefan asked his small voice full of hope.

"Yeah, I love musicals! You know that," Elena replied a smile on her face. It was only at that moment she realised how the situation could be deemed inappropriate. Damon would not be comfortable with her doing this. Her eyes flickered to his to catch his gaze. His blue eyes pierced hers and she almost felt guilty, as though she should have asked him for permission. But then she realised the absurdity of that thought. Damon didn't rule her life. Yes they had just entered into a pseudo-relationship but she should still be able to do what she wanted. She got ready to come up with her argument, when she realised that Damon was silently telling her that it was cool with him as he subtly nodded his head towards her. To say she was surprised was an understatement.

She smiled to herself. In that moment she felt a wave of true happiness. She moved towards the sink to wash her empty plate. Damon had fed her well.

"That's so great. You should probably start getting ready. The theatre is in Georgia so it's going to be a long drive," Stefan explained.

"Whoa, you're taking her all the way to Georgia?" Damon asked. A wave of jealousy washed through him, and he was annoyed by it. Georgia was his and Elena's place and Damon assured himself that that was the only reason why he felt a little uncomfortable about the situation.

"Well that is where the theatre is." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well you better take damn-good care of her. If she comes back with one hair missing from her head, I will beat you to shit," Damon said, a hundred percent serious.

It was Elena's turn to roll her eyes now. Although, secretly deep down, she was flattered by his fierce need to protect her. "Damon, stop being overdramatic. It'll be fun!" she said.

As Elena turned to leave excited to get ready, Damon grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. Before she could question his actions, his lips descended onto hers. His tongue quickly found its way into her mouth and territorially claimed it. He tilted her head slightly so that he could ram his tongue further into her mouth, causing her to let out a groan. Her legs were itching to the wrap themselves around his waist so that her lower half could grind against his. Before she could act on it, Damon pulled away from her.

"Have a good evening," he smiled cockily before walking out of the room.

Elena stood still, still in a daze. She looked to her side to see Stefan sitting there an unreadable expression on his face. Elena blushed beet-red she had forgotten that there was an audience in the room. She quickly excused herself so that she could escape the awkward atmosphere.

* * *

Damon sat by the fireplace, a glass of bourbon lying in his hand. Elena and Stefan had left an hour or so ago. He felt so stupid. _'Why the hell did I act all territorial with Elena?'_ He didn't understand why he had acted so childish. He knew Stefan wasn't a threat and yet he couldn't stop himself. He didn't understand why the uneasy feeling wouldn't subside.

A small part of him felt like there was a difference in Stefan since Elena had woken up with memory loss. His brother had gotten over the betrayal; he had gotten over Elena, but now what? How convenient was it that Bonnie just happened to suddenly have a class? Stefan knew Elena loved musicals. Damon swallowed the doubt. He was imagining it. Stefan had no feelings for Elena; besides he loved Bonnie. He was just imagining this all in his head. He was just creating problems, because for the first time in a while things between him and Elena were great. He smiled remembering the kisses they had shared. He couldn't wait for her to come back. Until then, rather than drinking by himself, he may as well find Alaric to join him.

* * *

A/N Okay I wasn't too pleased with this chapter but I hope you guys weren't disappointed by it…

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	13. Chapter 13

A/N Just want to say a huge thank you! I reached over 400 story alerts which is just incredible and is the most I've had in any fandom. TVD fans rule… more specifically Delena fans rule.

* * *

Elena crept into the bedroom. She could see Damon's outline lying in bed. He was laying on his side with his back facing her. She shimmied out of her dress and crawled into her short shorts and tank top. She then approached the bed to pull the covers back. Seeing Damon's sexy bare back sent thrills through her and she quickly slipped into bed. Thinking that he was asleep, she wraps her arm around his waist and buried her face into his back, inhaling his scent.

"Wow, someone's in a touchy-feely mood," Damon whispered loudly. Elena jumped, not expecting him to be awake. She just knew from his words that he most definitely had a smirk plastered to his face.

"Don't pretend you don't love it," she said snuggling into him even more. Damon turned in her arms so that he was now facing her. He leant forward a little and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"Hey, you're not going to hear any complaints from me." Elena smiled and placed her left hand onto Damon's right cheek. She gently stroked his jaw line softly with her thumb, trying to memorise the feel of it. "Did you have a good time?"

Elena nodded her head. "I had a great time, but there was something missing."

Damon scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

"Not what, but who. I missed you," she whispered. Damon's heart swelled. Elena had never said anything so affectionate to him since her accident. _'She missed me, she actually missed me!'_ He couldn't get the stupid grin off his face. If this wasn't progress well then he didn't know what else it could be.

"I missed you too," he said still grinning.

"So what did you do with your day?" Elena asked curiously as she pulled her hand back and just stared into her husband's mesmerising blue eyes.

"Had drinks with Ric & then got off with a lot of girls," he said cheekily. Elena's jaw dropped open.

"You did not!" she exclaimed giving him a playful shove.

"Okay so the last bit may have been a lie, but I did have drinks with Ric," he pointed out. "I didn't expect you to come back tonight. It's 3am," he said glancing at the luminous digital clock on the nightstand, "I thought you'd stay at a hotel overnight."

Elena shifted uncomfortably in the bed. "I wanted to come home," she admitted. Damon's heart once again soared seeing how easily she called the boarding house 'home'. She was really opening herself up to him and he could not express his gratefulness in words. So instead, he once again captured her lips but this time he lingered there for longer. "If I didn't come back, I wouldn't have gotten these kisses," she pointed out.

"That's a very good reason to come home then," Damon agreed, causing Elena to giggle. "So how do you feel about going out on a date tomorrow?"

Elena's eyes shone at the opportunity but she didn't want to show just how excited she was by the prospect. She was going to play it cool. "Hmm, okay sounds good. But with who?"

Damon rolled his eyes at her attempt to be funny. "With Satan," he deadpanned.

"Oooh a challenge! I like it. If I can tame you, then I'm sure I can charm Satan over to the good side."

"You did not tame me! I'm not tamed at all. I am as wild as they come!" he replied indignantly.

"Damon you're a married man spooning his wife in bed. You're hardly the definition of wild."

Damon rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'm a beast in bed, as you shall rediscover soon enough." Elena blushed a deep red. She was thankful that it was dark and that he probably couldn't see the colour of her cheeks even with his vampire sight. She prayed that he couldn't smell her blood more strongly now that it was closer to the surface. "So, how about that date tomorrow?"

"Sounds really good," she replied, beginning to yawn.

"Okay Mrs, I think it's time you went to bed."

Elena pouted, "I'm not tired," she said yawning midway through the sentence.

"I would believe you if you weren't yawning constantly."

"Okay, I guess I could sleep," she said slowly, her eyes drooping shut. Damon smiled, watching her slowly fall asleep. She turned on her side, facing away from him and snuggled into her pillow. Damon wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her closer to his body and happily fell asleep with her in his embrace.

* * *

"Damon!" she cried whilst giggling, "are we there yet?" she asked impatiently. Damon had his hands covering her eyes as he led her through the streets of Mystic Falls. She narrowed her eyes as she felt blades of grass brush along her legs. She had an idea of where they possibly were.

She was wearing a yet another dress that she had found in her closet. It was a strapless mini dress that had a tight fitting bodice and a high waistline. The dress was black and red and had a pleated sash. She had been attracted to dress knowing that they were Damon's favourite colours. It helped that the dress highlighted her curves. She could only imagine what it was doing to Damon.

"Okay we're here!" he announced, slowly removing her hands from her eyes.

Elena blinked a few times to adjust her eyes and then gasped at the sight that lay before her. _'Damon did this all for me?'_ They were at the park, like she guessed, but in front of her lay hundreds of candles bringing light to the darkness. There was a little dinner table set up underneath _their_ tree. The whole setting was quaint and intimate – it was perfect. She couldn't believe he put in so much effort for one measly date with her.

"This is amazing Damon," she said turning to face him. She didn't know how to show her appreciation for his effort in words and so she took a leaf out of his book and decided to show him. She attached her lips to his and passionately kissed him, trying to convey how much she appreciated him and his effort. They broke apart when the need for air became critical.

"I should really do more things to impress you if it's going to earn me a kiss like that."

Damon held out a chair for her to sit in before moving around the table to his side. He took the lids off the plates to reveal the calzone he had made. He was thankful that his efforts to keep it warm had paid off – it had not gone cold. They ate in comfortable silence enjoying their meal.

"So I want to know more about us," Elena said still incredibly curious about their life together before her accident.

Damon swallowed his food, "okay what do you want to know?"

"Errm let's see, how did everyone take it when we told them we were together?"

Damon grimaced, "I think you can guess that it didn't go down well with your family and friends."

"Yeah I figured as much," she sighed. "Tell me a funny story about us."

"Hmm… oh I know! Well there was this one time when we were in Hawaii for our honeymoon and we were on the beach and we got into an argument over the smallest thing – I could have sworn you were dealing with pregnancy hormones if it wasn't impossible." Elena threw a piece of garlic bread at his head and he scowled once it made contact with him.

"Anyway, there was this girl who I was talking to at the bar by the beach after our argument and you spotted us. You marched right over to us and used some of the most colourful language I have ever seen you use. I had never seen you so jealous. You just kept telling her to keep her paws off cause I was yours and that we were just married and perfectly happy-,"

"This doesn't sound like a funny story," Elena interrupted, a little embarrassed by her possessive behaviour.

"Wait for it. The girl went into shock after what you said and then confessed that she wasn't interested because she was a lesbian and was asking me for my opinion on whether or not I thought the hot brunette in the skimpy bikini, aka you, was also a lesbian," he said already cracking up. "The best part was that I told her to go for it. I almost wished you hadn't come up to us, it would have been so great to see her hit on you."

Elena was not amused by his story, she could see the funny side but she was more than anything just embarrassed. Damon on the other hand couldn't stop laughing; she could've sworn she saw a tear running down his face.

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly as Damon told her a few more stories about them. He refused to tell her any defining stories telling her that she had to remember them on her own, which only served to annoy the hell out of her.

Once they were bloated from all the food they moved to the blanket laid on the grass underneath their tree.

They continued to laugh and joke as Damon pointed out all the constellations in the sky. It seemed he was some kind of astrology expert. Elena snuggled into his side and listened carefully as his enthusiasm overflowed.

Soon they fell into a comfortable silence. Laying in Damon's arms staring at the stars, Elena realised that this was where she was meant to be – it was where she was always meant to be.

Before she knew it her eyes had drooped closed and she was drifting away.

"_Damon!" Elena shouted, "This isn't fair you're not allowed to use vampire speed when I'm trying to chase you!" She ran out of the boarding house in the same direction that he had taken. He was out of sight but she knew he could hear her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement and quickly raced in that direction. _

"_Damon, you can't just tell me you love me and then run away!" she shouted in frustration._

_She had quickly lost him again but then she recognised the pathway they were on. The only thing that was around this area was the local park… he wouldn't have gone there would he?_

_As she approached the green field she began calling out again, "Damon I know you're here! You don't just get to drop a bombshell like that and run a way you pansy, idiotic, stupid vampire!"_

_She huffed when she realised nothing she could say would bring him out of his hiding place. She had wanted to say the words to his face but she guessed this was almost as good. _

"_I LOVE YOU TOO DAMON!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She was thankful that no-one else was in the near vicinity – she would have received some dodgy looks. Before she could dwell on that thought, Damon had supersped in front of her, so that all she could see was him._

"_What?" he whispered so softly she almost missed it._

"_I said, I love you," she repeated just as softly._

_He narrowed his eyes, "I don't believe you," he said honestly._

"_What?" she asked, not believing what he had just said. "Why not?"_

"_Because I know you're only saying it because I said it."_

_She was thoroughly confused now. Where was this coming from? She had not pictured this conversation going anything like the way it was. Wasn't Damon meant to feel elated like she had with his declaration of love?_

"_What makes you think that?" She could feel a little part of her heart cracking at the realisation that Damon wasn't accepting her love. She could feel the tears beginning to well up in her eyes._

"_I said I love you and you didn't say it back straight away! You hesitated, you're not sure of your feelings and you're just saying it to appease me Elena; I don't want that. I want you to say it when you actually feel it."_

_Screw the sadness, Elena was getting angry now. How dare he tell her that she doesn't know her own feelings. She freaking god-damn loves him; she's sure of it. _

"_That was not hesitation! I was taking in what you said. Excuse me for being caught off guard; one minute you were tickling the hell out of me and the next you're declaring your love for me. I was just processing it. It doesn't mean that I don't love you because I damn well do love you!" _

_Damon narrowed his eyes, still not a hundred percent certain whether he could believe her. The walls around his heart had been so strong but with every day he spent with Elena a little more chipped away. This was the last part standing. If she loved him then he was never ever going to let her go. She had no choice; she was stuck with him forever. He needed her to be sure._

_Elena could see the hint of doubt still in his eyes. She huffed and stalked over to the nearest tree. She didn't know why she was doing what she was doing but she carried on with it anyway. Damon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What the hell was she doing? She was kneeling by a tree and it looked like she was carving something into it. He tried to see what she was writing but her body blocked his view from every angle. After five minutes of pestering her about what she was doing she finally revealed what she was doing._

_There imprinted on the trees were the words: Elena loves Damon forever. _

"_These words are going to be here forever, just like my feelings for you are going to be here," she pointed to her heart, "forever." _

_Her eyes locked with Damon as she tried to convey the whirlwind of feelings she felt for him. Before she knew it Damon had captured her lips in a searing kiss that represented all the love he felt for her._

"_I love you, I love you, I love you," he kept murmuring against her lip. She smiled as their foreheads were pressed to each other._

"_I love you too," she whispered back._

"_I don't know why I refused to listen to you. I was being a pansy, idiotic, stupid vampire," he apologised._

_Elena chuckled at his admission, "you were indeed."_

Elena's eyes snapped open and she sat straight up. Damon had fallen asleep beside her. She quickly glanced at the tree behind them and could see the clear engraving 'Elena loves Damon forever' still on it. She chuckled at the irony. _'It had to be a memory. It was so real. There was no way it wasn't.'_

She was in two minds about whether to wake Damon up or not but she realised there was no way she could go back to sleep without knowing for sure whether it was a memory or not.

She nudged his body, trying to wake him up but he seemed dead. For a vampire, his awareness was a little rubbish. "Damon, baby wake up," she cooed. She sighed, about to hit him when she saw the tiny smirk on his face. The idiot was awake. She decided to hit him anyway –it's not like it would hurt.

"Stop pretending to sleep! This is important," she said impatiently.

Damon opened one eye but one look at her face he realised what she had to say could be important so he sat up, ready to listen to her.

"I think I just got a memory back," she said smiling. Damon's eyes doubled in size at her words, he wasn't expecting that.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

"You're a pansy, idiotic, stupid vampire Damon."

The grin that broke out on Damon's face, confirmed all that she needed to know. Her heart swelled seeing the happiness on his face. She didn't know who leaned in first but their lips were most definitely melded together in a scorching, passionate kiss.

* * *

Hope you guys liked the chapter!

LJ: miss_asha_s Elena's dress can be found here  
Twitter: CosmicButton


	14. Chapter 14

First and foremost, I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who's still with me. This story has hit all-time highs for me. It's the most reviews & alerts I've ever received and it truly means a lot to me. Thank you so much everyone for your kind words and support. Fingers-crossed I'll hit 500 reviews soon. Eeek!

* * *

"Oh my God, this dress would look absolutely gorgeous on you!" Caroline squealed running over to a blue satin and lace dress.

"Wow, this is the first dress you've pointed out that actually looks good," Elena said surprised by the fact she liked the dress. Caroline scowled at her words.

"I have great taste thank you very much."

"Come on, I want to try this dress on," Elena said grabbing the dress and Caroline's hand and rushing off to the changing rooms.

Elena walked into one of the free rooms and started trying on the dress as Caroline sat outside the room.

"So what Founder's event is this again?" Elena asked.

Caroline huffed. "You're memory really does suck. I told you two minutes ago that it's the opening of the Founders Library with archives of diaries from ancestors."

"Right," Elena replied disinterestedly. She walked out of the changing room and did a little twirl, "what do you think?"

"Stunning! Damon is going to be having a hard time keeping his hands off you."

Elena winked, "Well that's the plan. I'm going to buy it." She walked back into her changing room and began changing back into her clothes. "So, I've been meaning to tell you something," Elena called out.

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows wondering what she was referring to. "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I regained a memory," she said smiling reappearing in Caroline's view.

"What?" she exclaimed in excitement, "that's amazing Elena! What was the memory?"

"The first time Damon and I confessed we loved each other," she said without hesitation. Caroline smiled at her words but Elena could see it was a little forced. Still, she was grateful her friend was trying to make be there for her as she tried to make amends with Damon, even if she didn't approve one hundred percent. After the dreadful first discussion about her and Damon's relationship, this was a thousand times better. Elena needed a girlfriend with whom to discuss her life and Caroline seemed more willing to be there than Bonnie.

Having bought the dress, the two walked to a nearby café to grab some coffee. Caroline chatted away, something about how exciting the founder's event was going to be. She knew it was rude not to listen but she needed a minute or two to gather her thoughts together. Ever since she had regained that touching memory her feelings for Damon had begun to run even deeper. It was like the memory not only seeped back into her brain but the feelings she felt for him during the memory were also seeping back. _'Are these feelings attributed to the memory or am I falling for him… again?' _

As the waitress placed their cups of coffees in front of them Elena spoke up again, "So I have another confession that I'm a little embarrassed about."

Caroline raised one eyebrow warily, "what?" she said dragging out the word slowly.

"Well I've been having this dream," Elena said ominously.

"I see, and what's been happening in said dream?"

"Well it's kinda a sex dream," Elena whispered quietly, almost too quietly for Caroline to hear.

"A sex dream?" she replied excitedly.

"Shhhhh!" Elena panicked looking around to make sure no-one else had heard Caroline. Thankfully it seemed she hadn't been quite loud enough to get other peoples' attention. "Yes, a sex dream."

"A sex dream with…?"

"Damon!" Elena exclaimed.

Caroline held her hands up defensively, "hey I was just making sure. For all I know it could be with Zac Efron. Man, the guy is fine," she wolf-whistled.

"Come on, we both know who you thought it could be about. I'm never going there again," she said harshly.

Caroline's eyebrow furrowed. "Did I miss something?"

"No," she replied hastily, "It's just that Damon and I are back together again and so I'm not going back to his brother again," she justified. "Anyway back to what we were discussing. The weird part isn't that I'm having a sex dream about him. It's just that it's not as though the dream has happened once, I get it a few times a week and I have no idea why. It's the same one again and again that goes further every time."

"Hmm… maybe your subconscious is telling you something?" Caroline suggested.

"What? That I should jump his bones? Wow my subconscious is horny."

"Or clever," Caroline pointed out. "Or maybe it's another memory?" she suggested excitedly.

"Huh. I never thought of that. But why does it keep repeating then?"

"Like I said maybe your subconscious is telling you something about your memory."

"Why can't my subconscious just leave me alone," Elena groaned.

"Well, I'd love to stay and help you figure this out but I gotta run. Matt and I are looking for flowers for the wedding," Caroline said standing up and taking out her purse.

"Lucky Matt," Elena laughed. "I'll see you soon." Elena stayed seated as she watched her friend leave. She needed a minute to herself to gather her thoughts again before carrying on with the day.

* * *

At the Grill Damon and Ric continued their tradition of day-drinking.

"So how are you and Jenna doing?" Damon asked, taking a gulp of his bourbon.

"Alright I guess."

"You guess?"

Alaric sighed, "Jenna wants us to start trying for kids."

"And you don't want to," Damon deduced.

"I'm not ready. I'd make an awful father."

"I don't think anyone is ever ready for it Ric. If it's any consolation, I think you'd make a relatively okay father."

"Thanks," Ric said rolling his eyes at Damon's way of being supportive.

"I wish I could give Elena children sometimes."

"Really?" Ric said surprised. He never really thought Damon would ever want kids.

"It was one of my biggest reservations about asking her to marry me. I knew it meant she would never have children."

"But Elena was willing to give that up for you."

"I know, but it still doesn't make it better that she had to choose."

"I didn't even realise you liked children."

"I don't like children but I'd like my children. I was born in the 19th century. The whole aim in life was to find a suitable woman to marry and have children with."

"I guess I never really thought of it like that."

"Anyway the whole point of sharing this way too personal story is to show you that you don't want to end up regretting things. Don't put off having kids because you're scared. If you're ready then you should go for it. You never know, you might end up in a freak accident in which your penis gets cut off."

"You could have just gone with 'you could be turned into a vampire' you know."

Damon grinned, "I know, but you getting your penis cut off sounded more dramatic."

"You know I'm amazed," Ric said taking another swig of his drink.

"By what?" Damon asked wearily.

"You."

"I know I'm a one of a kind phenomenon Ric but I'd rather you don't fall under my charm."

"Haha," Ric said solemnly, "totally not what I was trying to get at."

"Care to share?" Damon rhymed.

"I just meant I'm surprised that you haven't pushed Elena in this relationship. Where has the overbearing, crazy, controlling Damon gone?"

"Thank you so much for your kind words," Damon sarcastically thanked.

"Come on, you know it's true."

Damon rolled his eyes, not disagreeing. "Having been in a four year relationship with Elena I know when to push her and when to let her come to me. She's confused about her life, by who she is; who she was and who she is meant to be. She's rediscovering herself and I can't force her to love me. The feelings are still there, I can feel it, she just needs time and in case you didn't know I'm an eternal stud so time isn't an issue for me."

"Wow, who knew you actually knew what you were doing?" Ric asked astounded by Damon's little speech.

"Why I did of course," he smirked.

* * *

"Oh God, what the hell are you doing in the kitchen?" Damon called out as he walked through the front door of the boarding house.

"I'm cooking, what else does it look like?" she asked turning to face him as he leant against the threshold of the kitchen and hallway.

"That's just the problem though, who let you near the stove?"

"I didn't realise I needed permission," she pouted.

"Honey, letting you cook is a danger hazard to everyone and everything therefore you need permission." He moved over to the sauce she was making and had a quick taste before gagging. Elena visibly deflated, it wasn't good.

"Is it that bad?"

Damon immediately felt guilty for tactlessly expressing how bad her cooking was. She had clearly put a lot of effort into trying to cook for them. But there was no way he was going to eat what she had just made, he'd get food poisoning!

"It's not great, but nothing that isn't salvageable."

"Okay," she said, letting him take over the reins of the kitchen. "So how was your day?"

"It was alright I guess. I caught up with Ric and had a quick chat with Andie."

"Andie?"

"Yeah, remember you met her at Matt's party."

"The blonde bitch?" Elena asked not pleased with where this conversation was going.

Damon sighed, "She's not a bitch Elena."

It was now Elena's turn to sigh. She really didn't understand their friendship. Wasn't Damon meant to see that she was just like all the other shallow people he laughs at? "What did you talk about?"

"Nothing much, she's going away to San Francisco for a little while to look after her sick grandmother. But I invited her over for dinner as soon as she gets back."

"You did what?"

"Calm down Elena," Damon said hushing her. He moved away from the stove and closer to her. He wrapped his muscular arms around her waist and pulled her in so that she was pressed against him.

He whispered in to her ear, "You have nothing to worry about; I only have eyes for you." He ran his tongue along the outer rim of her ear to get her all worked up. She responded just as he wished, with a moan. She pulled her ear away from him so that she could capture his lips with her own. She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he proceeded to grant her permission into his mouth to duel with his tongue. Her arms wrapped around his neck as one of her hands delved into his hair; she was on her tip-toes. She smiled into the kiss as she heard him groan in pleasure. Before she knew it his lips ripped away from hers as he sped back to the stove. She pouted at the sudden loss of contact.

"Sorry, the food was going to get overcooked," he apologised. She couldn't stay mad at Damon for depriving her of him; she had to admit he looked happy in his domain.

"So how many women have you slept with?" Damon almost choked on the sauce that he was tasting.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

Elena shrugged. "Answer the question."

"I don't know, how many guys have you slept with?" he said defensively.

"Easy, three: Matt, Stefan and you."

Damon raised an eyebrow, "are you sure of that?" He said as he saw a look of worry overtake her face. He turned the stove off to face her.

"Y-yes," she stuttered, "you said I went straight from Stefan to you… right?" She started doubting herself.

"There's something I should tell you. We briefly broke up three years ago because you cheated on me with Tyler's uncle, Mason," he said solemnly.

"WHAT?" she exclaimed, shocked. "I wouldn't do that," she said looking like a lost puppy.

"Technically you and I got together whilst you were still with Stefan," he pointed out.

"Well yeah, but you said that I wasn't in love with Stefan anymore. It's not the same because I hadn't fallen out of love with you and in love with Mason." The truth of it all settled in and she felt devastated that she could do such a thing to her husband. _'Why did he take me back?' _"I'm so sorry Damon. I have no idea what the hell was going through my-"

Before she could even finish her sentence Damon burst into laughter, not being able to hold it in anymore. At first she was shocked by his reaction before her brain caught up to her and she realised that Damon had been playing her. Unfortunately for him, she did not see the funny side.

"Damon, you absolute bastard!" she shouted as she lunged for him. However, she didn't quite get him as he employed his superspeed to escape her grasp.

He whizzed past her, out of the kitchen. "How could you do that to me?" she shouted from the kitchen, knowing he could hear her. "You scared me shitless!" She hid behind the kitchen door waiting for him to come back. "You made me think I was an awful wife or well girlfriend at that time!" She started to make fake sobbing noises, knowing it would lure Damon back.

Just like she had thought, Damon started walking back into the room. She shut the door and pounced on his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and whacked his head.

"Ow!" he moaned in pain.

"How could you do that to me?" She was giving him an earful. Damon, however, after getting over the shock of her pouncing on him, went back to finding the whole situation hilarious.

"You should have seen your face!" he laughed, earning himself another whack over the head.

"You can't play with someone's memories just because they can't remember. That's just cruel!" she said unable to let a giggle escape. His laughter was infectious.

Damon swung her off his back easily and made sure she landed safely on her feet. He gave her a quick, chaste kiss.

"I'm sorry but it was just too tempting and then you're face was just priceless, I had to keep going."

Elena let out a humph but was still smiling. She was over the shock and now found it hard to disagree that it was pretty hilarious. "You know, you're avoiding the question I asked."

Damon sighed. "You know the answer."

"Correction, I used to know the answer."

"Correction, you still know the answer."

"I do?"

"The answer is that I don't know. I've not kept count."

"You really expect me to believe that you don't keep count?"

"Well you better believe it because it's the truth."

"Fine, how about a ballpark figure. 500?"

Damon chuckled, "you're kidding right?"

"Is it a lot more? 750?"

"Elena it's more like thousands."

"Thousands?" she repeated in shock.

"But not one compares to you," he reassured.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "I'm married to the world's biggest whore."

"Thanks."

"Any time," she huffed.

"You're not actually angry about this, are you?" he asked worried.

Elena sighed, "I guess I don't really have a right to be, so no. Just know that whatever the number is, it's going to stay like that forever now, because you're not sleeping with anyone else."

"I can deal with that." Damon purposefully avoided that fact that she used the word forever. It was way too early into their pseudo-relationship to bring that up.

Just as Elena was about to speak up again, Stefan walked into the kitchen. There was a pause in which he and Elena stared at each other.

The tension that filled the room did not go unnoticed by Damon and it definitely confused him. _'Didn't Elena say that their evening went well?' _Before his thoughts could linger on the change in the atmosphere Stefan said a quick 'hi' and announced that he had some work to do. What work he had, Damon had no clue.

"What was that about?" Damon asked in confusion.

"What was what about?" Elena asked pretending to be ignorant as she walked closer to Damon again.

"The tension."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a languid, drugging kiss.

"Wow," he whispered as he pulled away from her a little and rested his forehead against hers.

"My thoughts exactly," she responded as a little smile made its way to her lips.

* * *

I hope you all liked it. Please drop a review, I love hearing what my readers are thinking so please don't stay silent. I reply to reviews and tend to drop a spoiler here and there

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	15. Chapter 15

"Elena, stop being a child!" Damon yelled as he dragged her by the arm from the parking lot into the hospital.

"I don't want to go Damon!" she whined.

"Well you don't have a choice. I've let you put it off for long enough. You need to go have a check-up, especially since you've gotten a memory back," he reasoned.

"But Damon, every time I got to the hospital something bad happens!"

"Something bad happens or something bad has happened causing you to go to the hospital?"

"Same difference," she mumbled.

"Hardly Elena. You've never been to the hospital for a check-up. You're always here after someone's been injured so obviously it's going to be bad news." Elena kept quiet not quite knowing how to argue that point.

They approached the receptionist. "Hi, my name's Damon Salvatore, my wife has a check-up with Dr Montgomery."

The red-head receptionist blushed a deep red that could rival the colour of her hair. Elena rolled her eyes. Damon didn't even need to flirt to get a girl raring to go. She could see the smirk on his face; of course he knew how the girl was reacting to his presence.

"D-Doctor Montgomery's office is on the third floor. His check-up room is just o-opposite it," the red-head stuttered.

Damon sent her a dazzling smile. "Thank you." Elena once again rolled her eyes. She looked at the receptionist but couldn't be annoyed at her seeing as she at least had the courtesy to be embarrassed by her reactions when her eyes landed on Elena.

Damon grabbed Elena's hand and made his way towards the elevator.

They sat outside of Dr Montgomery's check-up room for about 2 minutes before he came out to greet them.

"Mrs Salvatore! It's been too long!" he claimed. "I'm glad you've decided to finally come for a check-up though."

"If I had my way I still wouldn't have come," Elena mumbled. Thankfully her doctor didn't hear her.

"Okay I think we should start with a few questions and then we need to take an MRI scan. I'll quickly glance at the scan and give you a prognosis. Does that sound okay Mrs Salvatore?"

"Yep," she replied popping the 'p'.

"Okay, so how have you been settling in?"

"Good," Elena smiled. This was the easy part, she could do the talking. "Damon's been great at helping me with rediscovering things."

"That's good. Any discomfort physically with your injuries?"

Elena hesitated before answering with a hesitant "no."

"And has anything changed on the memory front? Any memories? Or experiences of déjà vu?" he asked.

"Yes, I had one memory. A personal one between Damon and myself," she explained. Damon remained quiet yet supportive, beside her.

Doctor Montgomery smiled brightly. "That's great Elena. That's a lot of progress considering we weren't even sure if you'd get any of your memory back. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Elena frowned, "No, nothing I can think of," she responded.

"Okay then, Mr Salvatore can wait in the waiting room as I take you down to the MRI machine to get a scan."

Elena tensed. She had to do it alone? _'If I made a mad dash for the exit what is the likelihood I'll get caught? Don't be stupid, Damon will easily catch you. That's not necessarily true, it's not like he'd use his vampire speed in a public place. Besides, I have the element of surprise on my side; I can easily make a break for it.'_

Elena looked up for a second. Her eyes connected with Damon and he sent her a glare that said 'don't you dare even think about it'. _'Dammit, now I don't have the element of surprise.'_

"Hey doc, can you give us a minute?" Damon asked.

"Umm sure, I'll just wait outside the room," Doctor Montgomery said as he walked out of the check-up room.

Damon turned to Elena and cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I know you're scared Elena and I don't want to be the bad guy forcing you to do things that you don't want to do but right now, it is so important that you get this scan and it's not because I want to know if you're going to get your memory back. That isn't my top priority. I just want to be a hundred percent sure that you're healthy," he said, his deep blue eyes boring into her brown ones.

Elena's eyes softened. She wasn't doing this for herself. She was doing it for Damon – for his peace of mind.

"Alright, I'll be a good girl," she sighed.

Damon smiled and whispered into her ear, "I usually like you being a bad girl but right now I'm glad you're being good." She blushed as he pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. "I'll be waiting for you," he mentioned before leaving the room.

Elena took a deep breath before leaving the room too and following her doctor into another room to get into the hospital gown and wait to get an MRI scan.

* * *

"Mr Salvatore!" Doctor Montgomery called out.

Damon quickly moved to where the doctor was standing and spotted Elena approaching. He gave her a big, warm hug and pressed another kiss to her forehead. She smiled.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded and went to hug him again, needing his comfort. The doctor gave them a minute before he spoke up.

"So, looking at the scans and comparing them with the ones we took straight after the accident, from what I can tell there has been almost no change when it comes to the brain activity. The temporal lobe, where the memories you have lost are situated, is still the same. This means that the likelihood of Elena getting back all her memories are the same but the fact that she's already regained a memory is encouraging," Dr. Montgomery spoke up.

Damon nodded, hiding his disappointment. He looked at Elena who remained silent, her face blank.

"Her health otherwise is absolutely perfect, it's quite incredible how quickly her ribs have recovered. I don't know how she's done it, it's quite incredible!" Doctor Montgomery said in awe. Damon froze; the tone of the doctor was one he had heard before. He wasn't going to leave this miraculous recovery alone.

Damon glared into the doctor's eyes, "You will not remember seeing how well Elena's physical injuries have healed. You will remember seeing her and looking at her brain scans and that is all. Do you understand?"

"I understand," the doctor replied in a stoic voice.

Damon moved back at smiled. "Thanks doc for looking at her." He grabbed Elena's hand and dragged her out of the hospital.

"You really didn't need to do that," she whispered harshly.

Damon looked at her carefully for a second before responding. "I really did." The finality in his voice told Elena not to argue with his judgement.

* * *

He was late. He was so late. Elena was going to kill him. He was meant to be ready for the opening of the Founder's Library and yet instead he was 500 miles away from Mystic Falls, with almost no chance of making it back by car in time. He pulled out his phone to call Elena. She picked up after two rings.

"Damon, you better have a damn good reason for not being here or I'm going to chop of your balls!"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and am just going to go straight to the grovelling. I'm so sorry Elena. I swear it is all wolfboy's fault."

"What does Tyler have to do with you being late?" she asked confused by the revelation.

"The idiot vervained me!"

"He did what?" Elena shouted in disbelief. _'Has Tyler turned against us?'_

"He asked me to go out of state with him to meet this other girl who was a werewolf that had contacted him. She hasn't even undergone her first transition yet but Tyler wanted to help her through her discovery, blah de blah de blah… and I said no. So when I turned around, he vervained me when my back was to him and he drove me all the way to Tennessee to meet the girl. I'm just thankful it's not a full moon tonight."

"You can handle werewolf Tyler right?" she asked confused by his relief.

"Elena a werewolf bite kills a vampire. There's no cure."

"What? Has Tyler ever bitten a vampire?"

"No, but a different werewolf friend of his has."

"Is it safe for you to be around him?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes, just not on the night of a full moon. Don't worry; Tyler's careful about these things."

"Okay, well will you be back soon?"

Damon sighed. "I'm honestly not sure Elena. I'll try my best to get back in time for some of the founding event but I'm definitely going to miss the beginning."

Elena tried not to think about the reasons behind why she was suddenly so crest-fallen. It wasn't Damon's fault. Next time she saw Tyler, he would be getting an earful from her; that was for sure. "I'm not going to go to the event."

"Why not?" Damon asked concerned by her change of heart.

"I just don't feel like going alone," she admitted.

"Elena, you have to go," he said seriously. "You're part of a founding family, you have to go. In fact you're a part of two founding families therefore your presence is practically the most important. Besides, Stefan and Bonnie can go with you and I'm sure blondie and Matt will be there. You're not going to be alone."

Elena knew Damon was right but still having her friends with her wasn't the same as having her husband with her.

"Alright I'll go. Just promise me you'll come back as soon as you can."

"I promise."

"Okay, then I'll see you soon I guess."

"Bye Elena." Damon had to fight the urge to tell her he loved her.

"Bye Damon," she whispered back before hanging up.

She sighed putting away her phone. She twirled around, looking in the mirror, inspecting herself from all directions. It looked like Damon wasn't going to see her in this blue dress after all. It was the one she had bought with Caroline the other day. The dress had lace bound round the neckline and made up the long sleeve styling. The material of the fitted-body was satin and felt so soft against her skin. The dress ended mid-thigh so she had a lot of leg on show – something she knew Damon would have appreciated having caught him staring at her pins a couple times.

Stefan knocked on the door to her room. Her eyes connected with him through the mirror.

"Damon texted me to tell say that you were coming with me and Bonnie to the opening of the library. We're ready to go, are you?" he asked.

"Yes," she confirmed as she brushed her way past him not willing to talk to him more than she had to.

She saw Bonnie standing in a gorgeous drape yellow dress that ended just above her knee. Elena wolf-whistled at her causing her to giggle.

"Same to you babe!" she said, unable to make the same noise with her mouth.

* * *

Elena stood in the library feeling so out of place. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the event yet not one ounce of her was appealed by anything that was happening. She had gone through the motions of smiling and greeting people that had approached her but everything about the event had seemed dull. Were these things always so boring?

A lot of people asked about her health and she was sick and tired of answering with 'I'm fine'. The next most popular one was 'where is Damon?' she went for the classic, vague, 'he's busy'. Thankfully people seemed to sense from her tone to stop with that line of questioning. She was pretty sure most of them thought there was a rift between the married couple. She was thankful that she at least knew who most of the people were, having grown up with them, but there were definitely quite a number of new faces who didn't bother to re-introduce themselves when they launched into their attack of questions.

She so badly wanted to go back to the Boarding House, change into her pyjamas, bring her duvet to the living room and cuddle up on the sofa and watch 'Titanic'. But sadly, Stefan was her ride home and she wasn't willing to beg him to take her home. That left her stuck… here.

It was around half past twelve in the morning when they finally left the abysmal event. Elena was so tired having been bored out of her mind for a solid five hours. She didn't say a word the whole drive back and Bonnie was worried about her. Elena was personally confused. _'Is this what one night without Damon does to me?' _

As they all entered the boarding house Bonnie and Stefan made their way to their room whilst Elena stayed on the landing. She sat on the couch by the fireplace and poured herself a glass of Damon's bourbon. She wanted to wait up for him. Although he assured her he was in no danger she couldn't help but still feel worried for his safety.

* * *

Damon finally walked through the door, exhausted. He'd tried his hardest to get back but halfway through his attempt he came to terms with the fact that he wasn't going to make it to the Founder's event.

He went to the basement to get a blood bag. He was so incredibly thirsty after the long day he had been through. As the blood worked its way down his throat he couldn't help but miss the taste of Elena's blood. It was more potent and delicious than any blood bag could ever be and it had been so long since he had had a taste.

He was about to walk up the stairs to his room when he heard a moan come from the parlour. His eyebrows furrowed as he went to inspect the area. He immediately spotted Elena lounging across the sofa – asleep. Had she been waiting for him? He noticed a glass half full of his bourbon. He downed the rest of its contents and spent a few minutes just looking at his wife's beautiful countenance.

How did he get so lucky? She was so perfect. She was gorgeous, funny, kind, selfless, sweet; cute… every damn good adjective there was out there. It was only then he noticed the beautiful dress she was wearing. God, he so badly wanted to rip the tight dress off her.

Taking a deep breath, he easily picked her up bridal style and carried her up the stairs of the boarding house to their room. He dropped her lightly onto their bed not wanting to wake her up.

He got off the bed and stripped down to his boxers. He glanced at Elena's sleeping body, would she mind if he ripped the dress off her anyway? He made his way back to her and as he hovered above her trying to find a way to remove her dress so that she could sleep comfortably, her eyes snapped open.

"Damon?" she said in a raspy voice. "You're back!" Damon could hear the happiness in her voice and it was a great surprise.

"I'm back," he reiterated smiling. His right hand went to tuck a tendril of her brown, glossy hair behind her ear.

"Are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

"How are Tyler and the girl?"

"They're okay. Lockwood's decided to stay with her for the transition period. How was your evening?"

"Not good."

Damon frowned. "Did something bad happen?"

"No. Not per say. I was just so bored out of my fricking mind. How can people be so boring?" she asked genuinely wanting an answer.

He chuckled. "You've spent so much time with me that you just expect everyone to be just as funny. I'm sorry sweetheart but I'm just one of a kind." Damon moved under the covers and watched as Elena did the same.

"Aren't you going to get undressed?" he asked.

Elena frowned at his question. "We're not going to have sex!" she said indignantly, annoyed at how casually he expected her to jump into bed with him. Well she was kind of getting into bed with him, just not in the same way the saying suggested.

"Who said anything about sex?" Damon chuckled.

"But you just said-"

"Yes, what did I just say? Actually it's more like what did I ask?" he interrupted.

"You asked if I was going to get undressed."

"Now does that sound like me saying having sex with me or does that sound more like me wondering why you weren't getting out of uncomfortable clothes that you won't be able to sleep in?"

Elena felt the blush moving into her cheeks. She had jumped to conclusions and not properly listened to him. She chose against answering his question and tried to play it cool.

"This dress is fine. I can sleep easily in it." She turned away from him so that she was sleeping on her side unable to see his face.

"If you say so," Damon relented not in the mood to get into an argument with his wife.

He didn't know how much time had passed, probably only a few minutes but all he knew was that he couldn't physically stay on his half of the bed anymore. He scooted up right behind Elena and wrapped his arm around her waist and tangled his legs with hers.

"I knew you couldn't resist me," she chuckled.

"Never said I could," he pointed out.

He pressed kisses along her neck, craving the feeling of her skin against his lips. His kisses trailed higher until they reached her ear. He took her earlobe into his mouth and sucked on it. She moaned – loudly - and he couldn't hold back his grin. He turned her around so that she was facing him and he kissed her senseless; he had deprived himself of her lips all day, not realising how long it would be before he had them again. He quickly removed the covers so there were no barriers.

He gently rolled himself on top of her making sure he didn't put too much of his weight on to her. His tongue pried her lips open to rediscover her mouth, liking what he was finding. As the tongues intertwined his hands found hers and he held them above her head on the pillow. He broke his lips away from hers and pressed a kiss to her jaw, then to her cheeks and then down to her neck. He had to keep his vampire desires in check as he pressed a kiss to the skin above her jugular.

Without any warning, he hurriedly ripped Elena's dress off her body, tearing it into two.

"That was a new dress!" she screeched, unable to hold onto her anger as Damon pressed kisses to her newly exposed stomach.

"Don't worry babe, I'll get you a new one," he said, not giving a damn about the dress – not when he was presented with her underwear clad body.

He pressed kisses up her stomach and over collar bone. He didn't want to miss an inch of her skin. She moved her arms over his naked chest, exploring the hard plane and loving every inch of it.

"I want you," he confessed, not looking at her due to fear of rejection. She grabbed his chin and angled his head towards her so that their eyes connected.

"Then take me," she whispered. He didn't need to be told twice.

His hand reached behind her back to unclasp her black strapless bra and threw it away haphazardly as soon as it came undone. "You're beautiful…" he murmured at the sight of her. He trailed a feather-light finger down the middle of her chest, in between her breasts and across her quivering belly. He leaned in closer to her to cup her breasts. She bit her lip at the sensation of as thumbs brushed her nipples. His tongue swirled around one dusky rose nipple and then the other. He lifted his head, pleased to see each glistening peak harden instantaneously. His mouth took in one of her erect nipples and proceeded to suck lightly on it. Elena unknowingly arched into his mouth, gasping with pleasure she had never experienced before – at least not from what she remembered.

He slid up her body, placing wet, hungry, open-mouthed kisses along her chest and shoulders until his lips reconnected with her swollen ones.

Damon was already so hard just from pleasuring her. But that didn't mean he didn't appreciate Elena's hand working its way into his boxers and stroking his length rapidly. He moaned into her body, not able to contain the pleasure she was giving him.

Damon's hand reached for Elena's and yanked it away from his throbbing penis. Her face turned worried.

"Was I doing it wrong?" she asked, embarrassed by her inexperience.

"Hardly, I was about ten seconds away from coming and I'd much rather be coming in you," he stated causing Elena to blush a deeper red.

Before Elena could overthink what he said, she felt him spread her legs open and press hot, open-mouthed kisses along the inside of her thighs, working his way closer to her soaked panties.

Elena nearly jumped a mile off the bed when she felt him lick her core through the panties.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked.

"Don't worry Elena. We've done this a million times. You enjoy it; in fact you more than enjoy it. Trust me," he said not moving from his position between her open legs. She nodded giving her approval but he could still see her trepidation. He wasn't too worried though, he knew it would disappear in seconds. He slid his finger into the waistband of her panties and slowly dragged her last item of clothing down her smooth long legs.

He repositioned himself, spreading her legs apart wider to accommodate his shoulders. His tongue swept across her folds and Elena's eyes bugged out of her sockets from the unexpected pleasure.

He then plunged his tongue inside of her, feeling her clinch around his mouth as he then scraped his teeth gently on her clit, teasing her. "Fuck yes… more, more, more," she pleaded him as he pulled himself away from her and blew a deep breath along her wetness, making her legs shiver. Deciding to surprise her, he thrust two fingers inside of her as his thumb found purchase on her clit and rubbed circles on it firmly. He was desperate to have her come apart on his fingers. He didn't have to wait long as Elena's body jerked and he smiled around her flesh when he felt her shudder under him. He raised his head and watched her expressive face as she rode out the orgasm. There was no sexier look on her face. Damon quickly licked up her juices, not wanting to waste a drop of it and sucked her juices off his fingers.

"Damn you taste good," he told her appreciatively.

Elena was almost spent from that orgasm alone but then she felt his erection pressed against her stomach as he moved back up her body and she felt the longing to have him buried inside her. She clutched at his head and pressed his wonderful mouth against hers wanting more.

She rolled them over. "I need you," she panted against his neck, nipping and sucking at the vein there as her hands slid down his chest to the waistband of his boxers. She pressed kisses all down his chest and swirled her tongue around his nipples. How could this vampire be so perfect?

Elena couldn't for the life of her remember why they weren't doing this from day one. She couldn't get enough of his sinful body and the way in which he played her like an instrument. It seemed those thousands of women had allowed him to perfect his technique.

She reached forward and roughly yanked his boxers down. They had had their fun and now she needed him - desperately. His dick sprang free and it was only then they she grasped just how big he was. How the hell did that fit inside her? Damon knew exactly what was going through her mind and grinned to himself, he knew he was well endowed.

"What was that you said earlier about no sex?" he asked.

"Nothing... mmm, oh God, I said nothing," she moaned back as Damon began his attack on her breasts again, laving and suckling them to rev her engine up again.

Damon grinned pulling his lips away from her breasts, "Yes, that's what I thought."

He slipped his fingers between her thighs and brushed his fingers against her core.

"Mm you're so wet baby," he murmured.

"Please Damon; don't make me wait any longer. I need you inside me!" she cried out. That was enough for Damon to give into her demands.

He thrust forward, slowly entering her and giving her time to adjust to his size. It had been a while since they had last done this.

"You're so tight 'Lena!" he moaned as he filled her completely.

He withdrew almost completely before thrusting back inside with more ease. He angled her hips so that he could go deeper. Her mouth opened, and she gasped as her back arched to meet his thrust.

"This feels so good," she mumbled into his skin.

He thrust in and out of her, increasing his speed and strength with which he slammed into her. Elena angled her hips upwards meeting him thrust for thrust. His hand came between them to rub her clit again as she cried out in pleasure.

"I'm coming Damon, I'm coming!' she cried.

"Come with me baby."

He turned his face away from her tempting jugular and groaned when he felt her spasm around his cock. She screamed and he felt her juices slick her passage even more as she reached her high—it was too much and with a growl, Damon gripped her hips and thrust once, twice, thrice more, before he froze and he too fell over the edge. "Elena!" he gasped through gritted teeth as he shuddered and spilled himself inside her.

Damon removed himself from her and fell onto the bed beside her both of them panting heavily. She couldn't get rid of the grin that was now permanently stuck on her face. She turned her head to look at his sweaty body breathing deeply. She had never been so satisfied in her life.

"Please tell me that it's always like this between us," she pleaded.

Damon chuckled, pleased with her response. "Oh believe me; it's definitely always electrifying between us." He grabbed the comforter he had thrown off earlier and pulled it on top of them before he took Elena into his arms again.

"I'm so exhausted Damon." He chuckled, he definitely had it in him to go another round but he could tell that Elena was truly exhausted.

"Then let's go to sleep sweetheart," he had hardly finished his sentence before he could hear Elena's evened out breathing.

* * *

A/N Okay so this was by far the longest and most descriptive smut I have ever written in my life. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. I really hope I haven't offended anyone with how graphic it became, I really wasn't expecting it to be that descriptive. Also, this is the longest chapter I have ever written! I feel kinda proud of that Anyway I hope you don't think the sex happen too soon.

Also just to let you know these updates are only coming relatively fast because I'm on my Easter holiday, which reminds me, happy Easter everyone! Anyway, I started a new story called 'The Search For Something More', so check it out if you like my writing (you don't have to!). The second chapter for it will be up soon. Thanks to those who read both my stories already. It means a lot to me!

I'm going to shut up now because this author's note is getting too long. Please review


	16. Chapter 16

A/N You might want to read chapter 2 again and familiarise yourself with a part of the Delena conversation that takes place as I'm guessing it's been a while since you last read it and so you may or may not have forgotten parts of it.

I wrote and rewrote this chapter a few times before leaving it as it is. It's just one of those chapters where I'm never going to be 100% satisfied.

Also, just a reminder that the updates are going to slow down again as I'll be back to school next week and I'm also trying to keep my second fic updated as well. Thank you for the support guys!

* * *

Elena woke up the minute a ray of sunshine peaked through the curtains of the room. She turned her head to the side, towards the naked vampire beside her. _'Damn, he's a fine specimen.'_ Her eyes roamed his naked chest; the satin covers were placed perfectly over his lower region, preserving his modesty.

She breathed in deeply trying to capture this moment using all her senses. It was a perfect morning. Her hands were itching to run over her husband's naked chest and to bury her hands in his raven mop of hair.

She sat on her side, her head leaning on her arm as she inspected him thoroughly. His breathing was even and he looked so innocent. Who would ever guess that this guy had murdered so many people? That was the harsh reality to it, her husband was a killer, but he was also so much more. And hey, he only started doing it in order to survive and it's not like he does it anymore. From an outsider it would seem absolutely crazy how she was falling for someone who was once so evil. But if you had followed his journey to be the best version of himself, no-one would argue that he didn't deserve her love. It was moments like these when she realised how beautiful and emotionally their love story must have been that she wished she could remember it.

Growing impatient with waiting for him to wake up she decided to speed the process up a little. She pressed open mouthed kisses starting from his belly button all the way up his bare chest. She pressed a kiss to his chin and hovered above his lips. Before she could lean in, Damon's fingers buried into her hair and he brought her forward to smash her lips against his own.

He rolled them over so that he was now on top her, never breaking the kiss. They only broke away when oxygen became a necessity. Damon laid his forehead against hers and opened his eyes.

He blew air playfully into her face, and she giggled. "Hi." He said softly, digging his hands into her long glossy hair.

"Hi." She breathed back out. He grinned at her, and she closed her eyes in anticipation. She whimpered softly when she felt his hot breath on her neck.

"Mmm what a great way to wake up," he said grinning widely at her.

Elena opened her eyes again and simply grabbed the back of his and pulled him down to her again. She hadn't quite had enough of him from just one kiss. Her hands stayed buried in his hair as his large ones ran all across her body, up and down her sides, setting her on fire.

His mouth went to nip at her neck, he was careful to keep his vampire-self in check. They weren't quite ready to go there again. His tongue came out to lick every nip he made, soothing it over.

"Oh God, Damon. I want more!" she moaned.

"Patience is a virtue Elena," he sniggered.

"A virtue I can't afford right now," she argued.

The sex the night before had been an exhibition of pure need but now he wanted to take his time savouring her, loving her.

His hands rubbed her hardened nipples with his thumbs, drawing out a constant string of moans from his girl. He peppered her chest with kisses, leaving her urging him for more.

Her legs wrapped around his waist as his hands softly caressed her thighs. The hand on her thigh, slid up, creeping to her stomach, which quivered at his touch. He continued to play her body like an instrument, knowing exactly what note to press next to get the perfect melody.

Using his hands, he kept her in place as he kissed her with intense passion causing her to moan into his mouth. He pushed his hips into hers as she kept wiggling against him trying to create more friction. Damn his plan to take things slowly, she was making it too hard to hold back.

She had gasped into the kiss when she felt his hard member brushing against her own sex. She remembered just how good the sex was last night and was aching to reach such heights again. She moaned as his length rubbed her clit.

Not being able to hold back any longer, he slid himself into her warmth with on deep thrust. He groaned feeling how tight she still was. He pulled back and thrust deeper as she gasped and arched her back in pleasure.

"Yes-oh God-yes!" she panted, spreading her legs to give him easier access. Elena's eyes widened and her belly clenched as she felt her climax building rapidly. Her toes curled and she began to push forward to meet each and every one of Damon's thrusts.

"Oh God, I'm coming Elena."

"Mmmhmm… me too," she managed to say.

It wasn't even five seconds later before they both reached their climax and came tumbling back to earth with a new level of satisfaction.

He pulled out of her and lay panting beside her. It had been quite some time since he had had morning sex and to say he was thrilled to have back didn't even scratch the surface of how elated he felt.

He got up walking to his closet starkers as Elena rolled her eyes at his immodesty. He grabbed a white fluffy towel and dragged Elena with him to have a 'shower'.

* * *

"You know it's my birthday in three weeks," Elena said out of the blue as they sat in the kitchen.

Damon chuckled. "Of course I know, why are you bringing it up?" he asked warily. "Do you know what you want?"

"Well I just got what I wanted…twice," she said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows Damon-style causing him to crack up.

"That's good, I'll just give you some more of that then on your birthday," he winked.

Elena smiled. "Actually I was wondering if you were still thinking of turning me."

Damon's smile wiped right off his face as soon as the words came out of her mouth. His face became expressionless but she could see his eyes showed a storm of emotions – none of which looked like happiness. She gulped.

"Why?" he asked stoically.

"It's just that you said that we had discussed it and that you'd do it after my birthday."

"That was before the accident. Everything's changed now and you know it," he pointed out.

"I know, it's just if I was going to do it then, then why not still do it?"

He frowned. He didn't like where this was going. Why did she have to bring it up? He was reluctant as it was before to do it pre-amnesia, but now there was no way. He just didn't understand where this desire to be turned was coming from.

"Do you want to be a vampire?"

"What, what kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it," he snapped coldly.

"Well, yeah at some point," she replied confused by where this conversation was heading. Didn't asking someone whether they would turn you mean that you wanted to be a vampire?

"So is that what this is all about?" he asked as if he was finding some new found clarity. At least someone understood what was going on. She was confused as hell, how had they gone from unbelievably happy to really mad? She was regretting ever asking about the vampire-human relationship equation.

"Is what, what this is all about? You're gonna need to be clearer Damon because I'm really confused."

"You just want to be a vampire."

"Well I thought considering we were married that that was what you wanted too?" she asked, still in a state of confusion.

"No, that's not true," he murmured.

"I don't understand what the problem is. Surely you realised that you had to turn me at some point."

"Of course I knew I would! I'm too selfish to not spend an eternity with you!" he shouted back at her. She was about to ask him what the hell their problem was then, but he continued to speak before she could get a word out. "I thought you wanted to be a vampire for the same reasons, I thought it was because you just wanted to be with me," he whispered, pain creeping into his voice. "But you just want to be a vampire because you want to be a vampire."

He didn't understand that. Didn't she value her humanity? Wasn't she always the self-righteous one who thought that vampires were the baddies? Wasn't she meant to be totally against becoming a vampire?

Elena finally started to understand a little about what was angering Damon. Did he think she just wanted to be a vampire because that was what she wanted; like he had said her biological mother had seeked him out for? She had no desire to be a vampire. She wanted to be with him forever. But she couldn't tell him that; it was too soon. It didn't even make sense to her how she felt.

"Damon it's not that I swear!" It was the truth. She didn't quite understand where her own desires to be damned into an eternity of blood-lust were coming from. Her feelings for Damon seemed to run a lot deeper than she originally thought – they seemed to be spurring her on to argue her side. It was as though the lingering feelings of love from her memory of their first exchange of 'I love yous', was now deep-rooted inside her on top of her newly developed feelings of love towards him.

There was another reason for why she had brought the issue up and the more she thought about it the stupider she had realised she was being. She couldn't tell him about it though.

The more she thought about it the more she could see Damon's point of view. Of course he was confused by her eagerness to pursue this issue. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Before she could berate herself some more for being so stupid she started seeing flashes of images. Snippets of the life she couldn't remember. They were moving so fast that all she could grab onto were images of Damon here and there, sometimes he looked happy, other times annoyed and angry. She saw Stefan's face a couple times showing the same emotions. _'Are these memories?'_

"This is about Stefan isn't it?" he guessed seeing as she denied his last argument. _'If this isn't about wanting the perks of being a vampire then it has to be about Stefan.'_

Elena's mind was still trying to hold onto the images she saw that she hardly heard what Damon had said. "W-what?" she asked, trying to bring her brain back to where they were and away from the images she was trying to keep in her mind and remember.

"Is this about Stefan?" Damon asked slowly.

"What, no!" she replied indignantly now fully engaged in the argument. She didn't want to show him how close to bull's-eye he actually was with that accusation. "This has little to do with him and more to do with us."

"Oh, so it does have something to do with him," he confirmed quickly picking up on her slip up.

"That came out wrong," she hastily tried to correct herself.

"Am I missing something with you and Stefan? Just because I've kept my mouth shut, trying to support you through your whole amnesia ordeal does not mean I've become blind. I've seen the way you've been ignoring him around the house and avoiding him like the plague. If you want to be with him all you have to do is say the words and I'll be out of your way in seconds because I'm just about reaching my limit!" He shouted confessing all that he had been holding in. His face stayed blank as he hid his emotions, not showing how bothered he was by what he was saying.

Elena didn't like how he was turning the whole 'him-not-wanting-to-turn-her' situation into a 'you-still-want-Stefan-don't-you' situation. He was so close and yet so completely far off understanding her sudden want to be still be turned into a vampire, come her 23rd birthday.

The more she thought about it the more it suddenly hit her that Damon didn't want to turn her. He didn't want to spend the rest of _his_ life with her. He was fine with her growing older and dying as he lived on. Her own fears started rising to the surface. Was the relationship between her and Damon not something that he wanted forever?

"Is this about commitment? Do you not want to commit to me? You're turning it on me like I don't want to be with you when really the fact that you don't want to make me a vampire means that you don't want to be with me!" she shouted back, having no idea where these words were coming from.

"What the hell are you talking about Elena? I'm freaking married to you! I think that alone screams commitment!"

"What do you mean 'freaking married'? Do you regret getting married to me?"

"Wow Elena. I-" He stopped himself from answering as he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I don't know what to say to you Elena. You're being so irrational right now that I can't handle it."

"You didn't answer the question," she whispered tears filling up her eyes. For some reason the idea that he would regret being with her hurt deeper than anything had ever hurt. Her feelings were all over the place and she was having a hard time separating each one from another.

"I didn't answer the question because it was a stupid one," he spat out.

"It's not a stupid question."

Damon grabbed her by her shoulders and caught her gaze. "Yes it is," he whispered.

A tear fell down her cheek at his sincerity. "Why are we fighting?" she whispered back.

He let out a hollow laugh. "Because for once, you're being the idiot in this relationship."

"I'm sorry."

His face softened at her immediate apology. "How the hell am I supposed to stay angry at you for a few days if you apologise for your stupidity so quickly?"

She pressed her hands against his cheeks and brought his face down close to hers. "I don't want you to be angry at me."

"Well you're doing a good job at calming me down."

"Would a hug help some more?" she asked cheekily.

He scowled. "A hug? I'm not a girl Elena. Sex would sure calm me down."

"We had sex less than an hour ago," she deadpanned.

"Yep and I'm angry and only more sex will help me relax."

Elena laughed at his behaviour, shaking her head in disbelief before pulling him in for a hug, her head resting against his chest as she pressed herself as close to him as possible. Damon buried his nose into her hair, savouring her unique smell as he squeezed her hard. He'd never admit out loud but damn he loved her hugs.

He was still confused as hell by her behaviour and he hadn't forgotten her evasion of the Stefan conversation. He had sat back and let her dictate the terms since her memory loss but from here on out, things were going to work differently.

She was amazed that he had quickly let go of the argument. How the hell had they been screaming bloody murder at each other not even two minutes ago and yet now were seeking comfort in each other through a hug? She had no idea why she was even yelling at him. Her best guess was that maybe her emotions had been misplaced – directed at the wrong person. It was time she stopped avoiding Stefan and confronted him with all of her thoughts from the past few days.

* * *

A/N Okay, so I know this is on the short side but I kinda wanted the chapter to end there. Also, a lot of you are probably really confused by Elena's behaviour and believe me even I'm a little confused, lol. Don't worry some of her reasoning will come out very soon and some of it in case you didn't realise is because of her deep-rooted feelings for Damon, pre-amnesia.

Oh and I'm sorry I didn't get back to all of your reviews. I had some absolutely fantastic ones in the last chapter and I swear they meant a lot to me. I promise to try and get back to all of you who review.

Also, I have to say a humongous thank you to Mollie (EverythingBasedOnMe) for pre-reading this chapter... twice and pointing out which parts to change. Thank you; I couldn't have gotten this posted without you! All is forgiven on the plotting-to-kill-me front.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N Okay so the number of reviews was just over half the usual amount for the last chapter and I really hope it was because you guys just wished to stay silent as opposed to losing interest in this fic. Also, be amazed by this update because updates will slow down quite a lot with exam season approaching once more throughout May & June. Anyway enough of this depressing stuff, on with the story!

* * *

A week had flown by in which Damon and Elena continued to grow together in their relationship. But it was different from how it was before their fight. Things were comfortable but she couldn't help but feel that he was holding a little part of himself back compared to before when he put his heart and soul into making their relationship work. He had moments, as though he'd forget and would revert back to how it was before he started pulling away again. It was times like these that she wished she'd get all her memories back so that he wouldn't have to doubt her; but it didn't look like that would be happening anytime soon. So she made a deal with herself to do all that she could to make him trust her and their relationship fully.

Thankfully the sex hadn't stop. That would have been a crushing blow. They had no problems being together intimately. It was still as mind-blowing as the first time. They were addicted to each other in that department.

She knew the first step to making things right between them again would involve having a conversation with Stefan. She had tried throughout the week to do just that, but the timing was never right. This conversation had to be done in privacy, with no ears listening in. There never seemed to be a situation whereby she and Stefan were left alone together without a third person being somewhere nearby.

All the time that had gone by as she waited for the opportune moment had allowed her to prepare exactly what she was going to say to smooth things over between them and stop any confusion happening that led to mishaps.

Surprisingly, it seemed that this situation replaced the last thing that had been bothering her. It seemed the sex dream had stopped as soon as she had started having sex with her husband again. Maybe this was all just some ploy her brain came up with to give her body what it needed? If that was the case, she sure had one special brain.

Damon walked into the bedroom clad in only his boxers with a fresh mug of blood. His hair was sticking out in all directions, mainly due to Elena tugging at it during their quick make-out session when they woke up. She was still sprawled out in bed in her tank top and shorts, too lazy to move.

Thinking now was as good a time as ever she decided it was time to tell Damon more about her embarrassing dreams. They may have stopped but that didn't mean she was just going to dismiss them. Surely it was weird.

"Have you ever had a dream multiple times?" she asked him, seemingly out of nowhere according to him.

He frowned. "Elena, I know my looks may deceive you but I'm very old. There are only so many different dreams a person can have before they have them again."

"I don't mean it like that. It's just have you ever had the same dream over and over again in a week?"

"No," he answered honestly as he took a sip of blood from his mug.

"Oh," was all she could manage in reply.

"Is this about the reoccurring sex dream again?" he asked moving to sit on the bed beside her. She sat up and leaned against the headboard.

"It's just… it's just…" she hesitated.

"It's just what Elena? Is it still stopping you from sleeping?" he bored his eyes into hers, willing her to tell him what was bugging her.

Her cheeks turned red just at the thought of what she was going to tell him. _'You brought this on yourself Elena. You just had to open your big mouth. You've slept with him, he's your husband, there's nothing embarrassing about telling him you think the sex dream you have about him might be a memory. Besides the hard part is already over, he knows you've been having this sex dream!'_ She took a deep breath before carrying on.

"It's just you know how I told you I kept having this dream of you and I together intimately." Damon nodded his head as he listened to her speak. "Well it's stopped happening."

"And that is bothering you?" he asked confused.

"No. I'm grateful, otherwise I'd keep waking up with an ache," she explained.

"Hey, I would be more than happy to fulfil those needs," he pointed out smugly.

"That I'm sure of," she laughed. "That's not it though. I'm just confused by why it's stopped now."

"Maybe you got to sample this fine body," he gestured to himself, "and so your dreams don't need to try and compel you do it anymore," he arrogantly suggested.

She rolled her eyes, "The thought crossed my mind but now I'm wondering if it's a memory."

"A memory?" he burst out laughing, unable to contain it.

"What, what's so funny about that?"

"I'm sorry it's just how hilarious would it be if the first memory you had of us was us having sex," he said chuckling at the notion. She even started giggling. It was quite hilarious to think that her first memory of the most defining relationship of her life was one of sex. "Okay so is there anything specific about it that could possibly give me a clue when it might have been. Bear in mind, it's highly unlikely I will know seeing as we've had so much sex."

She blushed hearing him mention just how sexually active they must have been before her amnesia.

"Well there's nothing really that stands out," she admitted. "I know that it takes place at neither my old room nor your room."

"But it's on a bed?"

Her cheeks started burning. "Yes, definitely on a bed."

"Okay, well that still doesn't really narrow it down. It still could've been at the seedy motel, or the other seedy motel, or the other alright motel or-"

"Okay I got the point! We've done it at a lot of motels!" she exclaimed, finding the whole conversation embarrassing, even if it was with her husband. He was _still _Damon. "Why have we done it at so many hotels?" she asked curiously.

"You can call it sex Elena; we're not ten years old anymore." She rolled her eyes at his comment. Typical Damon. "And we have had _sex _at a lot of motels because we liked to go on roadtrips."

Her eyes lit up. "Really where have we been?"

"New York, Seattle, Cincinnati, Miami, Las Vegas, Austin, San Francisco and recently Hawaii," Damon counted off, making sure not to forget any. As he listed the places off, he had seen Elena's eyes doubling in size at wonder.

"Oh my God! I don't think I've wanted my memory back so badly!" Damon chuckled. "Can we please go on another road trip soon," she said pouting.

"You don't need to convince me Elena. I love travelling, even if I have already been to all these places."

"Yay!" she squealed already excited at the prospect of exploring America. She'd never really travelled all that far out of Virginia and the surround three or four states.

"Anyway we're moving off point. It could still be any number of places: there's still your cabin by the lake, then there's Tyler's and Alaric's place and-"

"What the hell!" she interrupted again, "why did we have sex at their place?"

Damon sighed, at this rate they were never going to find out whether her dream was a memory or not. "It's a long story. One I'm sure pre-amnesia you, is glad you've forgotten. Now stop straying from the topic at hand!"

She giggled at his frustration. It was just so fascinating learning about her own life. It's not like she could can the curiosity. "Well I'm pretty sure it's not one of the seedy motels because the place looked pretty clean. That being said I wasn't really paying too much attention to the surroundings."

"Okay then why don't you tell me what we were doing?"

"Err having sex…" she answered confused by his question.

He rolled his eyes, "I meant specifics." He leaned over and put his mug down on the bedside table, having emptied its contents.

"No way!" she shouted straight away.

"Why not?"

"Because it's embarrassing enough discussing it with you, let alone going into the specifics of what was happening!"

He started laughing at her outburst.

"What is so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just, it's funny seeing you all prudish again," he said continuing to laugh.

"I am not a prude!"

"Well, compared to how you were a couple months ago, you really are." She rolled her eyes. _'Was I really that open with him about our sex life before?' _"If you don't want to tell me, why don't you act it out."

"No."

"No?"

"No, I am not going to sit here and have sex with you to show you what it was like in the dream-slash-memory. Besides, you were doing most of the work."

"Hmm so it was a time when I was in a very giving mood. That doesn't really narrow it down either, because I'm always giving. I'm just Santa Claus when it comes to sex."

"I'm really glad you're not though."

"What? I do always give. Would you like me to show you?"

"No, I meant I'm glad you're not Santa Claus," she scrunched her nose in disgust, "he's all fat and hairy."

Damon burst out laughing. This was why he loved his wife. She could make him laugh like no one else. He had to hold back from telling her how he felt; she wasn't ready to hear it again.

"Fine, then it looks like we're never going to know whether it's a memory or just a dream."

She frowned. She couldn't physically live with not knowing. She focused hard on the dream, trying to remember absolutely every little detail of it, which was hard to do seeing as dreams are easily forgotten – even ones that had occurred many times.

"Well actually before the bed, there was a lot of kissing against the wall," she recounted as he nodded. "I was wearing short red shorts, a white tank top and a red bra; actually it was a matching set of underwear. Okay that's it, that's all I remember."

She looked up at him and could see there was a change in his eyes. There was a glimmer of something else. Her heart started pumping faster when she saw the happy grin appear on his face.

"It's a memory isn't it?" she asked slightly tentatively.

He leant forward and planted a soft slow kiss on her lips. It was a kiss she hadn't ever received from him before – to her knowledge. It was usually a little rough and hard, as they were always bursting with need for each other. Both kinds of kisses though, were of course always filled with passion.

He pulled back and tucked a stray hair of hers behind her ears. "That, my dear, was the first time we had sex as a married couple. It was at the hotel where we had our honeymoon in Barcelona."

Hearing that she hadn't been crazy and that it had been a memory for some reason provided her with relief. She had been hoping that the amazing sex she had been dreaming of was indeed real and significant and she hadn't been let down with his answer.

"We had our honeymoon in Barcelona?"

"Mmhmm," he confirmed.

"I've never been on a plane before."

"Something you wouldn't shut up about when we left."

"So it was actually real."

"It was real," he smiled.

"I wish I could remember," she said honestly.

"I know."

"You're going to have to take me abroad as well now, you know."

"Anything for you."

He glanced at the clock to check how long he had left. Not much time. He hated being away from Elena.

"Okay well talking of going away for a bit I've got to go now. I'm going to be gone for the rest of the evening and possibly the night. It'll be really late when I get back." He stood up and stretched his muscles.

"What, why?" she asked disappointed to hear he wasn't going to be around. Although things weren't perfect between them she still much preferred his presence than his absence. They still had their moments, like the one they had just experienced.

"Tyler called me earlier begging me like a little puppy to come pick him up from Tennessee."

"Oh okay. I guess you have to go. Just hurry back okay? I'll miss you," she said as she stood up and hugged him tightly.

"Seriously? Another hug?" he asked in fake dismay.

"Well it's not like we have time for sex!"

"A kiss will suffice."

She smiled. That she could definitely do. Standing on her tiptoes she pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him with all that she could muster. He groaned as she forcefully pushed her tongue into his mouth to explore every crevice of it and do that tango with his own tongue.

A ringtone went off nearby. He pulled away from her.

"That's your phone."

"Mmmm, I don't care," she declared as she reattached her lips to his, craving his taste. He chuckled into the kiss, all too glad to carry on where they left off. The mobile went silent.

He pulled away again. "Okay I really have to go now before leaving becomes impossible."

"That just makes me want to keep kissing you to keep you hear. It's a win-win situation." Damon smiled before pecking her lips.

"I'll be back before you even, know it." He learned forward to press one last kiss to her forehead before exiting the room and then the house.

Elena stood frozen in place, breathing heavily. Her mobile went off again, shaking her from her daze. She scrambled to grab her phone from the bedside table before the ringing ceased again.

"Hello?" she said breathlessly.

"Finally! What took you so long to pick up? Wait don't answer that. I bet I could guess. His name starts with a D and ends with an N," Caroline guessed on the other side of the line.

"Darren? Sorry, nope I don't know a Darren," Elena joked.

"Haha very funny. Anyway you know why I called don't you?"

Elena wracked her brain. "Errrm no."

"Elena! Tonight's the night of my sleepover!"

Elena smacked her right hand against her forehead. _'Crap! I knew I had forgotten something. Well technically I've forgotten a lot of things but that's not the point.'_

"Oh, I hadn't forgotten," she lied, "it's just that I'm not feeling very well. I don't think that I'm up to it."

"What? But Anna was going to come to this one! She was really excited to get to hang out with you now that she's no longer busy with organising that Founder's event; which I must say was amazing. I had such a great time."

Now she felt really guilty. She really did want to get to know Anna better, especially seeing as she seemed to be going strong with her brother. Not to mention she was already feeling guilty as it was about lying.

"You had fun at that library? How?" she asked trying to direct her away from her questioning.

"What, you didn't? And hey, stop trying to send me off on a tangent! Are you really sick or are you lying to me because you'd rather spend time with Damon?" she asked annoyed.

"It was boring. It was just a bunch of people talking about… well nothing. Oh and I'm not directing you away from anything; you're the one who started talking about the opening of the library. Oh and Damon's gone to Tennessee to pick up Tyler so no I'm not blowing you off for him. I really am sick," she continued to lie.

"Oh, okay. I'm going to miss you now. A sleepover isn't the same without you." The guilt Elena was feeling multiplied. "I'm gonna make Bonnie check up on you to make sure you're not lying," she said pointedly.

"Nice, Caroline. I'll see you soon, bye."

"Bye Elena. Get better soon."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Elena scrambled into the ensuite to grab some tissues before she raced back to the room jumped into bed and pulled her best 'sick face'. She strained her ears, listening out for any sign of anyone coming to check up on her.

A few minutes later she could hear the pitter patter of Bonnie's feet making their way to her room. As Bonnie knocked on the door and Elena told her to come in, she brought a tissue up to her nose to make it look like she had just been sneezing.

"Hey," she said weakly. "I'm guessing Caroline sent you here to make sure I wasn't spending the day in bed with Damon."

"What can I say? That girl is demanding! I'm pretty sure she's a vampire or something because I'm almost certain she compelled me down the phone to check up on you."

Elena laughed at Bonnie's ideas. "Well I believe you've fulfilled your mission. Do I look sick enough for her to realise I'm not lying?"

"You look kinda sick to me. Besides why would you want to hang around here by yourself if Damon isn't here?"

"Oh, did Care tell you that Damon had gone?"

"Well yeah, but I saw him leave, seeing as I was downstairs when he walked out the door. Anyway, I guess it's my turn to walk out the door before Caroline kills me for being late." She rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay here with you until you get better."

Elena smiled at her friend. "No, go ahead. Enjoy yourself. I'll get over this soon. It's just a cold."

With a wave goodbye, Bonnie left and Elena was for the first time in a long time actually by herself in the Boarding House.

There had been a reason for all the lying. After Caroline had reminded her of her sleepover she remembered that Bonnie would be going and she had figured that what with Damon leaving for the evening, this could be her only opportunity for a while to corner Stefan so they could discuss all their issues. They clearly hadn't covered everything that night.

She got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She wasn't sure quite when Stefan would return – she'd figured he'd gone hunting.

She grabbed some cookie dough ice-cream from the freezer and sat down on the stairs, watching the front door intently. But as they saying goes: a watched kettle never boils. After waiting patiently for thirty minutes she quickly grew frustrated and bored. Taking a leaf out of Damon's book she rummaged through his liquor cabinet despite the fact that it was only the afternoon.

Just as she filled her glass with some scotch, Stefan walked through the front door. He frowned when he saw her.

"Aren't you meant to be at Caroline's house?" he questioned, walking further into the parlour.

"I decided to skip it."

One of his eyebrows rose. "Oh yeah, why is that?"

She took a deep breath, looking him straight in the eye. "I think it's about time we spoke again."

A smile worked its way onto his face. "I thought you said everything you had to say that night."

"Well I changed my mind," she admitted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

His smile turned into a full-blown grin. "Are you willing to admit you're still in love with me then?"

* * *

A/N I'm just a little evil leaving it there aren't I? Thank you everyone that's been supporting this fic and I have to give a special shout out to Jenna (Angel's blue eyed girl) who is not only a fantastic writer but also a fabulous friend for pimping out my fic. Thank you Jen.

Oh and just how amazing were those Nian pics at Coachella? So sweet!

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LJ: miss_asha_s


	18. Chapter 18

A/N Okay before starting this chapter I just have so many things I have to say. Most importantly, thank you! I've been blown away by the response this fic has received, especially after the last chapter. The last chapter had the most reviews I'd ever received for a chapter of 'Wrong Salvatore'. I'm sorry I doubted any of you reviewers & readers the chapter before. This fic has over 500 story alerts and is on over 300 peoples' favourites list. All I can say to that is mind-blowing! Your enthusiasm for this fic really keeps me going.

I'm going to shut up now before this author's note becomes longer than the actual chapter! I just want to add that I don't know if a lot of you know but I have started a new fic called 'The Search For Something More' so if any of you have the time, go check it out!

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_The Night of the Musical_

Elena yanked open the passenger door to join Stefan in the car.

"That was amazing! I just love all the singing and dancing," she commented as she put on her seatbelt. "Although, my favourite scene has to be their first kiss. How cute did they look together? They had so much chemistry. I wouldn't be surprised if those actors were dating in real life." She glanced at Stefan to see what he would say but he only nodded his head along, his mind far away. She couldn't help but feel annoyed that he hadn't been listening to a word she had said.

She leaned back in her seat and looked out the window at the passing scenery as they started driving back towards Mystic Falls. It was likely that they would be making a motel stop, unless Stefan had the energy to drive all the way back. As the minutes passed by, she for some reason got more and more annoyed by how Stefan had just let her talk and pretended to listen. Did he not care about her opinions? She couldn't help but compare him to Damon. He would always listen to her, even when they had hated each other like four years ago. It was like Stefan heard what she would say but he wouldn't listen to her words but Damon would do exactly that. He'd hear what she was really saying, the hidden meanings behind her words.

She glanced at Stefan again, who seemed fully focused on the road. She narrowed her eyes. He had been incredibly quiet the whole night. He had been alright on the drive up – pretty quiet but that was just the way he was. But all throughout the musical he hadn't really said a word. Just like now, his eyes had been focused on what was happening but his mind was a million miles away.

She had had enough. There was something that was bothering Stefan and as his friend she wanted to know. Were he and Bonnie having relationship troubles? Was that the real reason behind why she hadn't been able to go to the musical with him?

"Okay Stefan. That's it. What's up?"

His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes finally looked away from the road for a second. "Why do you think that something is up?"

"I know you Stefan. I know when you go incredibly quiet, more so than usual, you're thinking something over, a million times. It's not going to do any good keeping it in your head so spill. Purge," she said taking one of Damon's lines.

He sighed. Elena had always known him better than anyone else – save for his brother. He couldn't keep it in anymore. He couldn't wait until they reached the motel. He had to tell her now.

Without saying a word he pulled over to the side, got out of the car and walked away, towards a field of some kind.

Elena quickly followed suit, taking off her seatbelt and scurrying after him until she reached the place where he had stopped.

"Stefan you're starting to scare me with all this silence. Is there something wrong?"

"I don't know where to start. I'm just so confused, and yet in some ways I'm not confused at all."

All this confusion talk was making her confused!

"It's just that I know that it's wrong but I don't really care anymore. I've been fighting it but now I just want to give in."

Elena's worry grew. Was he talking about his bloodlust? She took a step back and braced herself, ready to run as soon as she was given any indication that he was about to pounce on her.

"Stefan, you have to fight it."

He angrily turned around to face her, "Don't you understand? I can't fight it! Don't you think I would? That I realise it is wrong? That I'm just going to cause pain to my own brother if I do?" Her eyes widened, Stefan looked too far gone. She shouldn't have come with him, unprotected without Damon.

"I've tried Elena and now I'm giving in," he said firmly, his eyes boring into hers. He swiftly approached her. She opened her mouth ready to scream, when he did something completely different to what she had been expecting.

His lips captured hers in a searing kiss. His hands cupped her face pulling her in as close as possible to his body. Her eyes widened. Was this really happening? Her mind then fully engaged with her body and she used all her might to push him off. Being disadvantaged, seeing as he was a vampire and she was just a human, her efforts had absolutely no effect. Fear started to grip her as his hands roamed along her sides. She couldn't get him off her. She was at his mercy. He was going to stop though, right?

She kicked his leg as hard as she could and that was enough of a distraction for his force to decrease, allowing her the chance to pull away from him. She didn't know if she should run from him or stand her ground. Would he try to kiss her again? _'There's no point in running away you idiot, he has vamp speed. Did this morning with Damon not teach you anything? You can't outrun them.'_

Weighing her options, she stayed put. She was gonna give Stefan a piece of her mind. He still looked to be in shock over what he had done to her. She was over the initial shock and fear and now she plain angry, bordering furious.

It was that anger that caused her to slap him. It may have hurt her a thousand more times than it hurt him but she needed to do it, and damn did it feel good. The memory of slapping Damon in the same way when he first tried to kiss her flitted past. It was weird how much time changes things.

"What the hell was that?" she shouted at him. "What the fuck gives you the right to force yourself on me?" she questioned, unable to stop cursing. "I am married to your brother! Do you even get what that means?"

He looked up at her, having been staring at the ground. His eyes were flashing, matching hers. "Of course I know that! Do you think I want to feel this way?"

"Feel like what Stefan? Feel like the loser for not getting the girl? Well, I'm not some kind of prize that you can reclaim whenever you want. I may not remember everything but I know that I had my reasons for leaving you for Damon."

"I know you're not a prize! If anything, you should be saying that to Damon. He took you from me!"

"He didn't take me! I went willingly."

"And how do you know that, huh? How are you so sure he isn't lying to you?"

"Because he's not you. He doesn't lie to me."

"I've only ever lied to you to protect you."

"And I know that you believe that, but that's not good enough for me. Did you think you could just take advantage of the fact that I don't have all my memories and make me go back to you?"

"You know it has nothing to do with that," he bit out.

"Do I?" she questioned. "It doesn't matter anyway Stefan because nothing and I repeat nothing will ever happen between us. I let you go and I thought you had done the same years ago. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still love you. On some level I'm always going to love you. But I'm not going to ditch four years' worth of hard work and commitment. Marriage is serious and I don't want to regret anything if I get my memories back."

Stefan looked to open his mouth and comment but she wasn't having any of it. She held her hand up to stop him from speaking.

"I don't want to hear it Stefan. Nothing you say is going to change my mind. I'm still so pissed off that you thought you could just kiss me and things would be fine. You're gonna drive me home right now, screw the motel! You're not gonna say a word to try and defend yourself, because what you did was wrong and there's nothing else to it."

She marched determinedly back to the car, yanking the door open and getting into the passenger seat. She pulled out her ipod from the pocket of her leather jacket and put on her headphones as she looked out of her window. She could feel Stefan's presence as he opened his car door and proceeded to start the car.

She couldn't stop the thoughts from flying around in her head. Had that really just happened? She couldn't believe how much had happened in just this one day. She kissed Damon for well the second first time ever and Stefan kisses her for the first time since they broke up. What were the chances of that happening? Knowing she had kissed both of them in one day – albeit one against her will – made her feel so dirty. She felt like Katherine and didn't like it for one second.

She didn't understand where this was coming from. Had Stefan been in love with her for the whole of her last four years with Damon? It didn't look as though he had been in love with her in the glimpse she caught of Stefan in her wedding video. He had seemed happy for Damon. Was this all some kind of game? Was this a test that Damon had set up? No, he wouldn't do that to her. There's no way in hell he'd let Stefan kiss her, all just to make sure she was truthful about her feelings for him.

She snuck a quick glance at Stefan and found that his gaze was fixed, once again, on the road. She quickly turned her head back and continued looking out the window. She couldn't stop the anger from running through her veins just from looking at him. How could he do this to her? How could he just dump her with this revelation?

Nothing made sense and she was getting a headache just thinking things over. Was Stefan's mind reeling like hers? She inwardly groaned at her never-ending string of questions. She glanced at the digital clock that was on the navigating system screen. She inwardly groaned once again when she realised only fifteen minutes had passed. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She needed to block everything out. She wasn't ready to talk to Stefan again and so she wasn't going to be getting any answers to her questions anytime soon. She turned the music on her ipod up to the maximum volume and blocked out everything else.

Time crawled by slowly and the tension in the car hadn't decreased one bit. Somehow, they had managed to make it back to Mystic Falls. Elena couldn't be more relieved to see that they were approaching the Boarding House. She felt safer knowing Damon was nearby. There had truly been a few moments there, where she was terrified of Stefan. He seemed so out of control at times.

As he parked the car, she took her second glance at him since their argument. This time he wasn't looking out at the road, he was looking straight at her. Time stood still as their eyes connected. She tried to read him but she got nothing. She didn't understand this man that lay before her anymore. She turned away from him and pulled her passenger side door open. She trekked through the rocky pathway towards the Boarding House.

She almost made it to the front door when Stefan grabbed her by the arm and spun her around mid-path.

"Don't touch me," she snapped as she yanked her arm away from him. Her eyes were shooting daggers at him.

"We need to talk."

"I already told you I've said everything I want to say."

"Well I haven't," he argued.

"That's beside the point because I've heard enough," she hissed back.

"No you haven't. You're gonna regret not letting me explain everything."

"I seriously doubt it."

"This isn't some game Elena. This is serious."

"Exactly! This isn't a game. I'm a married woman. I'm married. I don't understand how you don't understand what that means. If that isn't enough to deter you, then maybe the fact that I'm married to your brother should. But seems even that doesn't faze you."

"I get it Elena, believe me. But this isn't something I can walk away from, not when I know there is a chance."

"Can you even hear yourself Stefan?"

"You're not listening to me Elena."

"No! You're the one who's not listening to me."

"I love you Elena and you're just as in love with me. You will admit it."

"I can't keep going over this Stefan! It's like an endless loop over the same words. My answer is always going to be the same. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. I think you need to take a step back and realise that that's exactly what you're doing."

For the first time, Stefan stood speechless. He had no comeback. She could see that her words were finally sinking in. He was finally realising that he was fighting a losing battle.

"I know you love Bonnie, Stefan. I've seen the way you look at her. When I first saw you guys together I was upset because I could see the love between you two. You do love her. You're just confused right now. You need to go back to Bonnie and sort out your feelings. She doesn't deserve to be hurt by your fickleness."

"You were upset?" he said a glimmer of hope sparkling in his eyes. She immediately regretted revealing the information. It seemed to have undone all her work in trying to convince him there was nothing between them anymore.

"Seriously, that was all you heard from that? Did you hear anything about Bonnie?"

"Of course I did and I'm not breaking things off with Bonnie."

"Good. Just stay away from me for a while and stay true to Bonnie. Don't ever mention anything about this night to Damon. Under no circumstances will he know what happened."

Stefan's eyebrows furrowed. "Why? Worried he'll get jealous and attempt to hurt me? Worried about my safety?"

"Not wanting to tell him has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with him. Although, you shouldn't want him to find out because if he did, even I'm not sure my interference would stop him from staking your sorry ass."

He rolled his eyes ignoring her last words. "You're not telling him for his benefit? Sounds like it's for your benefit."

"I don't have to explain myself to you. Just keep your mouth shut and don't ever try anything with me again. I may have let it go easily this time but I swear if you touch me again, there will be hell to pay."

With that she turned on her heels and raced back to the Boarding House. As soon as she was through the door she scurried up the staircase and headed to her room. A sense of relief and calmness overcame her as she saw the outline of her husband lying in their bed.

She quietly closed the door behind her and leant against it. She took a deep breath and just stared at the contours of his body. How did his presence alone bring about so much serenity? All she knew was that she was glad to be back home, back where she belonged.

* * *

A/N This chapter was a little on the short side but really, who wants to read more SE? Okay, so who else is majorly pissed off at Stefan? What an idiot, huh? I know you were all probably expecting their conversation but it's not like we could have that discussion without y'all knowing exactly what went down! I'm thinking I'm going to be receiving a review or two about Stefan's stupid behaviour…

Oh and before I forget, who else has been raping the replay button for the DE makeout. Eeeeek! So bloody hot!

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	19. Chapter 19

A/N Thank you, thank you, thank you readers & reviewers that stuck with me through that SE chapter! I'm sorry but there's more in this chapter, but just bear with me!

* * *

"Stefan, get your head out of the sand. I'm not in love with you anymore."

He frowned; clearly those were not the words he had been expecting to hear.

"Wait so that wasn't that you wanted to say?"

"No!" She rolled her eyes. Did he seriously think she had just suddenly changed her mind? That she wanted run back into his arms?

"Then why did you say you changed your mind?"

She rolled her eyes. "I changed my mind about my decision not to hear you out. I've decided I want to know what the hell you're thinking. I want to understand."

"So now you realise how you should have heard me out; tried to understand where I was coming from."

"I regret not listening to everything you had to say. Yes." She wanted to be clear with Stefan. She didn't want to confuse him into thinking she felt more for him than she really did.

"Is anything I tell you likely to change your mind?"

"Yes," she answered truthfully.

"Okay, well then, what do you want to know?"

"What the hell makes you think you can do this to Damon? Where did this love of yours even come from? Did you never get let me go? Have you been pining for me the last four years or something?"

"Whoa, one question at a time. Believe me Elena, I wish I didn't have these feelings for you. I don't want to hurt Damon; he's my brother. But I figure he did the same to me so why should I feel guilty for doing what he did to me first. He doesn't feel guilty so why should I?"

"That makes no sense Stefan. Just because Damon did something hurtful to you, doesn't make it alright for you to do the same. You're wrong though, I'm certain he felt guilty, he loves you and he would never want to intentionally hurt you. Besides, he wasn't alone in hurting you; I did the same thing. Why does he get all the punishment?" she argued.

"I'm not doing this as punishment. I want to be with you and if that means Damon gets hurt then so be it. I've held back long enough on his account. Now I'm taking what I want."

"Why the hell do you think I'd cheat on Damon with you?"

"You cheated on me!" he shouted losing his cool.

Her face screwed up. Did he think that was a sufficient enough answer to validate the reasoning behind why she would cheat on Damon? Did he think she was just some kind of cheating whore that just made a living out of it? Was she Katherine?

"That's not cool Stefan. I'm not Katherine. I made my choice."

"Katherine made her choice too but I chose you."

"What?" she asked confused. _'I swear Katherine played both of them.'_

Stefan let out a hollow laugh. "Oh this is priceless. Did brother dearest not fill in your missing memories about Katherine?"

"What Damon does and does not tell me is not the topic of discussion right now." She tried to hold in the panic that spread throughout her at the thought of Damon keeping secrets from her. She pushed the Katherine subject aside. She'd ask Damon about Stefan's cryptic words at another time. She needed to take things one problem at a time.

"Then what are we talking about? Are we discussing how you broke my heart by cheating on me with my own brother?" he shouted.

The words hit her hard and her voice quieted down. "I am immensely sorry for doing that to you Stefan. I clearly went about it the wrong way. I should have not been a coward and I should have confronted you about how I really felt about Damon."

He too calmed down. "I know you probably don't understand where all these feelings of mine are coming from. I think I just buried them and I never fully got over you. I thought I was moving on but then when you had your amnesia you started looking at me in the same way that you used to, when you loved me. Those looks just blew the top off the lid of my feelings. I love you Elena and I know that you do still love me too. I wish I hadn't held back for so long. I wasted so much time."

"Stefan," she took a deep breath, "when I sought you out a few weeks ago and spoke to you, I told you I was letting you go and that's what I've done. I know you think you love me, hell maybe you do, but that doesn't change things. Yes a part of me still loves you but it's not in the same way I love Damon and it's definitely not to the same magnitude."

"You love him again already?"

"No. I just… I can tell from my actions that I had to have loved Damon more than you. Why else would I marry him within two years of knowing him at the age of twenty? Why else would I cheat on my boyfriend? I might not love him that way right now but I can already feel myself heading in that direction. I'm falling deeply in love with him."

"I don't believe you."

She sighed. "What's not to believe Stefan?"

"You can't be falling for him already. I've been watching you guys. There's friction there. You're just saying this to push me away but I'm not going down without a fight."

"I'm not just saying this to make you back off Stefan. It's the truth."

"What about the problems you and Damon are experiencing huh? How do you explain that? You're like your old self again, back when you were first with me. You're no longer right for Damon. You're meant to be with me."

"There is no old and new Elena!" she yelled, her frustration getting the better of her. "There's just me, and Damon's taught me that. I kept worrying that I wasn't the same as I was before but Damon never referred to me as like an old Elena or like the Elena he was with. He just let me be me and showed me how I'm still me. He lets me rediscover myself and push my boundaries again."

"That's why you shouldn't be with him! You don't need to do any of that. You just need to be how you are now."

"What are you talking about? I'm twenty two years old but I feel like I'm still eighteen. Of course I need to push myself, change and grow up. I can't just be a one-dimensional girl that you like!"

"But I love you like you are now!"

"Well, I'm not going to be like this forever! I'm going to grow and mature. Have you not done that in you're a hundred and sixty five years of living?"

"Of course I have. But that doesn't mean I've changed who I am."

"Experiences haven't changed you?"

"You're twisting my words."

"No Stefan. I'm not twisting your words. You're making no sense."

"Well you're not understanding me."

"I can't understand someone, who if I'm being frank, is acting like a child and seems to be a little delusional."

His face became pained as her harsh words hit him. His Elena was never this harsh. "If you seem to be so sure that I'm the one that doesn't make sense, then how do you explain all the tension between you and Damon? What are your issues with him if it has nothing to do with the fact that you're not meant to be with him?"

"You're the problem!" she cried out, her hands flapping in frustration. She did not like the way he was criticising her marriage to Damon.

"What?" he asked confused. "How am I causing you a problem? Wait a second, is it your feelings for me that are causing you issues?" he deduced.

"NO!" Was he never going to get it in his thick head that she wasn't going back to him? Her indignation, however, shouldn't have been so strong. She knew Damon was slightly worried about Stefan and her feelings for him; that much she could tell from their major fight.

"Then what, Elena?"

She sighed. "It was because of you I asked Damon to turn me on my 23rd birthday and things then got out of control."

Stefan's face screwed up. She wanted to become a vampire? But she was meant to stay innocent and pure. She was never meant to be turned into a monster. "How did I push you into that decision?"

Tears started to fill her eyes; she was unable to hold her emotions back. "I asked Damon to do it as a way to prove to you that I would never leave him for you. What kind of awful person does that make me?"

"You went that far just to let me know you were choosing Damon?"

The tears started streaming down her face. "But that isn't what makes me feel sad and ashamed. It's the fact that I asked Damon to turn me for all the wrong reasons. I should have only asked him to do it solely because I loved him enough to want to be with him for an eternity, not because I wanted to make it clear to his brother that I never want be with him again."

A tear now rolled down Stefan's right cheek. Her words made it clear to him that he would never have a chance with Elena again. She was Damon's… forever. With that, it dawned on him that it was time to let her go again. He gazed into her eyes and accepted his fate but he didn't know how to articulate to her that he understood now.

"I told you that I might change my mind, and I have."

"What?" he asked in complete confusion as his eyebrows furrowed.

"I want you to break up with Bonnie."

"What?" he repeated. "Where is this coming from?"

"When I said that I may have a change in opinion, I was referring to Bonnie. She doesn't deserve the pain that you're going to bring her by staying with her. She's my friend and she deserves better than a vampire who doesn't love her completely."

"No," Stefan outrightly refused. If he couldn't have Elena, he wasn't going to lose Bonnie as well.

"It's not a choice Stefan. Either you break up with her or I'll tell her what happened the night of the musical," she said determinedly. She wasn't about to let her friend's future be ruined.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her carefully to see whether or not she was bluffing. "I don't believe you. You won't tell her because you don't want Damon to know what's been going on."

"You're right; I don't want Damon to know. I don't want his relationship with his brother to be ruined. But if that's the consequence of saving Bonnie's future then I'll do it. You need to go far away for a while and get completely over me and only then can you come back. Bonnie needs to find someone else."

She could see the panic in Stefan's eyes. He was scared to let Bonnie go because it would mean he would be all alone and she understood that, but her loyalties lied with Bonnie's happiness right now. Bonnie needed to get out of the dead-end relationship she was in with Stefan and having him break up with her would be the only way she would be able to get through to her. She could tell Bonnie wasn't a hundred percent happy with her relationship with Stefan but she would never have to courage to pick up her things and just leave him.

"I don't think I can Elena. I need her. She's my rock."

Elena's eyes softened. She felt for him. "I know she means a lot to you Stefan, but can't you see that what you've done to your relationship shows how you two just aren't meant to be? She deserves to be loved completely and you deserve to find someone that you will love completely."

He nodded his head slowly, his eyes showing that his mind was far away. "Okay, I'll do it. Just give me a few days to build up the courage to do it."

Her eyes softened. "Okay, I can do that," she said gently as she retreated out of the parlour and back to her room. As she walked up the stairs she literally felt as though a weight had been shifted off her shoulders. She felt optimistic about her relationship with Damon. Things were going to be good again now that Stefan would no longer be a problem.

* * *

She tensed feeing arms wrap around her body in the middle of the night. Had Stefan jumped into her bed? She turned over to see who had their arms all over and visibly relaxed when she saw that it was Damon.

She smiled, happy to see him back. "Someone's in a touchy- feely mood."

He smirked at her familiar words before he buried his face into her shoulder and mumbled, "Don't pretend you don't love it."

She giggled before she lifted his head up and planted her lips onto his.

"Mmm, I missed you," she mumbled into his lips.

He pulled away from her, smiling. He never got tired of hearing those words leave her lips. He gazed into her eyes and replied just as honestly, "I missed you too." He planted a quick kiss on her lips and then added, "Mini-roadtrips with Tyler are nowhere near as fun as those with you."

"Is that so?" she asked coyly. "You know, you promised me a roadtrip," she added innocently.

"That's right, I did, didn't I?"

"Mmmhmm," she mewled nodding her head furiously.

"Well then, how does going to New York in three days sound?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you serious?" she squealed.

"Well, I think you could use a change of scenery for a little while."

"Ahhh! You're so amazing!" she shrieked as she firmly reattached her lips to his. She pulled away from him, a question forming in her mind. "Why do we have to wait three days? Can we not just set off right now?" she asked excitedly.

"We could. I'm just a little tired from this roadtrip and could use a few days to recover."

Her eyes narrowed shrewdly at his words. Since when did driving a car for several hours require so much stamina from a vampire? "I could drive the first day as you relax," she suggested.

She watched him shift awkwardly. She had thought that things would start to get better between them now that Stefan was no longer weighing on her, but it seemed she may have been wrong.

"No it's fine. Let's just leave in a few days."

Her eyes narrowed further. "What is this really about Damon? It better not be some bullshit about not wanting a girl to drive your car because I'm your wife and that means half of that bloody thing is mine."

Damon pulled his best 'shocked face'. "You did not just call my baby a 'bloody thing'!" She rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood to joke around. She had a bad feeling about Damon's hesitance.

He immediately sensed how she was feeling and sighed. He rolled over onto his back and placed his right arm over his head.

"Andie called. She's back from San Francisco and she asked whether she could come over for that dinner I promised her, the day after tomorrow." He removed his arm to take a quick glance at his wife, only to see her expression hadn't changed.

He watched as she didn't say anything. Instead she rolled over onto her other side so that she wasn't facing him. He sighed as she blocked him out.

"I know you don't like her and I don't blame you. She's not always on her best behaviour around you," he spoke aloud to her back, "but she's a good friend to me. She's been there for me at some of my lowest periods."

He didn't see the lone tear trickle down her face. _'Where was I during these times?' _She didn't know why it bothered her that he had a friendship with the gorgeous blonde. She was a hundred percent sure in Damon's love for her. Even so, she realised that she was slightly possessive with him. She wanted to be the only woman of any meaning to him.

Recognising that Elena wasn't going to turn around and speak to him anytime soon, he turned his body away from hers, so that they both had their backs facing each other.

Damon sat there contemplating how things had gotten so out of control. Things had started so well that night. He knew she was jealous of Andie even though she had absolutely no reason to be. He knew most people would just drop their friends to keep their wife happy but he couldn't do that. He was loyal. Andie had been there when he had to watch Stefan and Elena play happy family. She had been there when he'd drink himself into a stupor. She had been there to stop him the many times he had thought about leaving Mystic Falls behind.

He sighed again as he rolled over back onto his right side to see Elena's back. He wondered if she was sleeping. Her breathing seemed pretty regular but he wasn't sure if she had a thousand thoughts rushing around in her head like he did, preventing her from falling into a peaceful slumber.

Hoping that she was indeed asleep and not wanting to be separated from her any longer he scooted up right behind her and spooned her. He wrapped his arm around her stomach and gently brought her as close to his body as humanly possible as he buried his face into her hair and breathed her in.

Much to his surprise, he felt her place her left arm over his as she intertwined her fingers with his and held his hand close to her. No words were exchanged as they found comfort in each other's bodies.

* * *

A/N I added a little DE scene at the end seeing as I think I tortured you enough with the SE. So what did you guys think? What did you all think of the last TVD episode? I wasn't a fan. The last Dalaric scene killed me though… I'm gonna miss their friendship . Anyway I hope you guys liked this chapter, especially now that you know Stefan is going to back off… for a while ;) Also, I just realised this is my sixth update for this fic this month, which kinda amazing (for me)! Don't get used to it, lol.

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	20. Chapter 20

A/N Chapter 20… can you freaking believe it? I sure as hell can't! Thank you for pushing me on guys; you really are my driving force. Oh and you may wanna read chapter 10 again as there was some information about Andie in it.

* * *

The day after their lovers' tiff went by with little contact between the two. Elena had spent the day with her aunt whereas Damon watched some special football game with the guys. He had done his best to avoid her at all costs. He was unsure where exactly they stood after their little argument. All he knew was that he wasn't going to back down. She had noticed all his attempts to avoid her and had felt hurt by his actions.

He'd only spoken to her once before they went to bed and it was only to tell her to invite Jenna, Jeremy and Anna to the dinner if she was so uncomfortable with it just being Andie. She had nodded her head in agreement, not saying a word. She knew that he thought she was holding a grudge against him because of the Andie debacle but that wasn't true. Yes, she had been annoyed at him when he told her about the plans that had been made but she was over it by the next morning. No, what had led to the anger was the fact that Damon had chosen to make the issue bigger than what it was and had decided to avoid her. He didn't realise how lonely that made her feel. He didn't know how much she depended on him now. He was the only person she felt intrinsically linked to.

So there they were standing awkwardly in the kitchen the afternoon of the dinner. She refused to be the first to break the silence, especially seeing as he was the one who had started this silent treatment. They stood at stalemate and she would not be the first one to give in.

He was standing with a knife in his hand rapidly chopping the vegetables that lay in front of him. He glanced up from his work and his gaze landed on her for a few seconds. They narrowed, observing her carefully, trying to gauge her mood from her demeanour. She stared him down, not succumbing to his heavy stare. A small smirk appeared on his face as he went back to chopping the onion.

"You know, your childish behaviour really isn't going to get us anywhere."

Her jaw dropped open. "My childish behaviour?" she repeated indignantly. "I'm not the one avoiding my spouse at any cost and giving her the silent treatment."

His eyebrows rose. "Is that so? So you just happened to have already planned a day out with Jenna and it slipped your mind to ever mention it to me." He picked up the chopped vegetables and placed them in a pan as he turned the stove up.

She tried her best to not look like she had been caught. "I don't have to tell you every little detail of my life. I'm sorry I forgot to mention that I was going to spend time with my aunt," she hit back sarcastically. "Besides, since when did you like football?"

He stirred the pan as he answered her question. "I've always liked football," he said, shooting her a look. "In fact I even taught Stefan how to play back in 1864."

She rolled her eyes. "That still doesn't change the fact that you've been giving me the silent treatment."

"I haven't been giving you the silent treatment, you've been giving me the silent treatment," he argued as he scurried around the kitchen getting out more ingredients from the cupboards and the fridge.

"I've only been giving you the silent treatment because you started it!"

He held his hands up in defence. "I didn't start it. You did," he said as he pointed his finger at her.

"That's a lie. I woke up yesterday and waited for you to say something and you said nothing."

He sighed. "Elena, I woke up, waiting to hear what you thought. I think we were both at fault for not saying anything."

She sighed and plopped herself down unceremoniously into a stool.

"I'm sorry," she apologised.

His eye softened. He hadn't been expecting her to give in so quickly. She was a stubborn girl and it usually took a lot more arguing for her to come around and see his opinion.

"I'm sorry too," he answered honestly as he halted his cooking for a second to go over to where she was sitting. He spread her legs apart so that he could stand in between them. He placed a hand on her right cheek and gently rubbed it with his thumb before her pulled her in for an earth-shattering kiss. He hadn't been able to kiss her in almost 48 hours and God did he miss it. She placed her arms over his shoulder and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him in as close to her as possible. She had missed his kisses. It was during these moments she wondered why the hell she ever argued with him instead of just kissing him senseless.

They pulled apart at the same time. A small smile worked its way to her face as his broke out into a grin.

"Okay so what are you making for dinner tonight Chef Salvatore?"

He rolled his eyes at her childishness as he made his way back to the stove.

"I've just started making the cannelloni. I need to steam the vegetables and then I need to make dessert."

"Oooh and what's for dessert?" she asked excitedly seeing as that was her favourite part of a meal.

"Me," he answered with a wink.

"Haha," she said sarcastically. "Seriously though, what are you making? Can I help?"

"Sure," he said remembering how she told him she enjoyed cooking and wish she did it more. "But don't you have to go and get all dolled up? Oh and I'm making your favourite dessert by the way."

"Apple and rhubarb crumble?" she asked eagerly. "I do have to go and get dressed, raincheck on the cooking?"

"Mmmhmm," he confirmed both her questions, eyes still focused on his cooking.

He didn't notice her get off her chair and walk up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head against his back as she hugged him tightly. He smiled feeling her body pressed up against his.

"Well someone is definitely in a better mood."

"I'm sorry," she repeated, mumbling into his chest.

"You said that already," he said as he twisted in her arms so that he was facing her.

"I know, I just really mean it. I was being stupid letting your friendship get to me. I trust you, completely and I was just having a stupid jealous moment."

He smiled smugly at her confession, genuinely pleased to hear that she realised how irrationally she was acting. "Damn! Does this mean I won't get to see a catfight?"

She shook her head vigorously, "nope."

"No trash talking?"

"Nope."

"No overly possessive behaviour?"

She held a finger to her chin as though she was thinking about it. "Well, I'm always kind of possessive when it comes to you, it might be hard not to be."

He shrugged. "Well I don't mind about that one. It means I get groped publicly by you."

Her mouth fell open. He did not just say that. "I do not grope you!"

"Errr yeah you do and you cling on very tightly."

A blush started to spread across her cheeks. Did he notice the way she held onto him the last time they saw Andie together?

"Well, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

"No! I like when you do it."

"Sorry, you made fun of me about it so it's not happening again."

"Damn, I talk too much sometimes," he said as he went back to work in his kitchen.

She started making her way out of the kitchen but before she left she added, "I much prefer it when you're talking though."

* * *

She stood in front of her mirror wearing a silky dark blue top which had a bow flowing down it like a waterfall. She paired it with leather leggings, knowing full well how it would affect Damon. She had left her hair down but had made it wavy rather than her usual straight. She finished off the ensemble with a chunky gold bracelet and dangling silver diamond earrings and of course she was still wearing her engagement and wedding rings. She had gone for a silver smoky eyes look when it came to make-up to bring out her brown eyes.

She was possibly a little overdressed for just a dinner at casa Salvatore but she was determined to look her best and wanted to try her best to turn Damon on whilst fully clothed. She pretended that it had absolutely nothing to with a friendly competition between a certain blonde and herself.

She felt his presence before she saw him. _'I really don't need to be a vampire to sense him.' _

"Done cooking?" she asked as she turned to face him. She noticed that he was decked out in his usual black shirt and jeans.

"Yep, done grooming?"

"I'm not a dog."

"Could have fooled me."

Her eyes narrowed in disdain. "Looks like there's not going to be any sexy-time for you."

"Sorry, you can't take away sexy-time when you're wearing leather pants just so you can seduce me," he pointed out.

"Who said they were to seduce you? I just happen to like leather."

"Which is also one of the many reasons you lo- like me," he corrected hoping she hadn't noticed. Unfortunately for him, she had very much noticed his change of word.

Before anything else could be said the doorbell rang out through the house and Damon used his vampire speed to go and open the door.

She took a minute to get her thoughts together. She hadn't heard Damon use the word 'love' to her face since her first night back at the Boarding House, once she was released from hospital. Her mind casted back to when she had drunk his blood and he had confessed how much he loved her and how hard he would fight for her. He hadn't said the special three words once since then, excluding the memory of when he first told her. She hadn't realised it had been so long since she had heard it. She knew he felt that way, at least she thought he still felt that way about her. A part of her yearned to hear him say it to her again and yet another part of her was scared shitless to hear him say it. She wondered for a moment whether her feelings for him were strong enough to be called love yet. She knew what she felt for him was strong and deep but she wasn't quite sure if it was love. What was love anyway? She had thought she loved Stefan but what she had felt for Stefan was so different and so much weaker in comparison. It was almost like puppy love.

The doorbell rang again, pulling her out of her reverie. She glanced at the clock in her room and noticed she had been standing there for a few minutes. She quickly scrambled out of the room realising she was being a bad host by not greeting her guests.

She ran down the stairs as fast as she could – seeing as she was wearing blue, five inch heels, it meant that she was not very fast at all.

As she walked into the parlour she saw that Jeremy, Anna and Alaric had arrived. She was surprised to see that Stefan and Bonnie were joining them. It shouldn't have been a surprise but for some reason it didn't really cross her mind that because they lived in the same house, they would of course be joining them for dinner. She wasn't too happy to see the two of them together, knowing that they would break up soon. She felt like Stefan was leading Bonnie along, but she had promised to give him a few days and so she would keep her mouth shut tonight. It seemed they were all only waiting for Andie.

"Hey! Sorry it took me so long to get down here. Where's Aunt Jenna?" she asked puzzled by her absence.

"She had a last minute work commitment and couldn't make it," Alaric informed her. She nodded her head in understanding a little disappointed she hadn't come.

Small talk ensued amongst the seven people for about five minutes before the doorbell rang for a third time. Elena stiffened, knowing who would be at the door. _'I guess it's showtime.' _

She heard the screeching of her laugh when Damon opened the door to greet her. Well, it sounded like screeching to her ears… maybe not everyone's.

As she heard the noise of stilettos clacking along the wooden floor, making their way towards the parlour where everyone else was situated, she turned and put on her best fake smile to greet Andie with.

Her grin almost slipped off her face when she saw the woman's attire. She had thought she herself may have been overdressed but now looking at Andie in her form-fitting blue dress paired with very high, sleek, black heels with her curls falling perfectly in place, she suddenly felt as though she was underdressed.

"Hey Elena! It's great to see you again," Andie said sweetly as she pulled Elena in for a hug.

"Likewise," she said lying through her teeth.

"Why don't we all move into the dining room?" Stefan suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement and made their way to where dinner would be served.

Jeremy and Anna sat opposite each other as Alaric took the seat at the head of the table. Stefan and Bonnie sat opposite each other. Andie took a seat on the opposite end of the table and Damon went to sit on her right next to Stefan. That left Elena with the seat next to Jeremy, on Andie's left, but crucially opposite Damon.

The food was already laid out on the table, the lids of the dishes just needing to be removed.

"Damon, the food smells incredible; but then again what else would I expect from such a wonderful cook," Andie complimented. Elena rolled her eyes; she was totally trying to climb up Damon's ass. Not that she was saying Damon's cooking wasn't incredible.

The dinner went by without any glitches. The topics of discussion had stayed pretty safe and conversation had run pretty smoothly amongst the relatively random group of people. Elena would have gotten on with Andie a little more if she hadn't been constantly engaging Damon in a one-on-one conversation. Elena had derived pleasure at getting back at her though by playing footsie with Damon under the table whenever Andie talked to him. She could tell he liked it by the little smirk that would appear and the shift of his eyes in her direction when he felt her leg brush up and down his.

Everyone moved back to the parlour to sit around and eat their dessert before the drinks would come out.

Elena was happily munching away at her apple and rhubarb crumble. When she was done she leaned in towards Damon who was seated next to her. She whispered breathily into his ear, "Thanks for the dessert, baby. You'll definitely be getting a dessert of your own tonight." He fought to keep the smile that wanted to break out onto his face at bay. His lips twitched and he nodded, making it clear to her that he had heard exactly what she was saying. Unbeknownst to the pair, Andie had been watching their interaction closely as she scowled at their closeness.

"So how are things between you two?" Anna asked having seen the way Andie was staring at the couple. She wanted to make it clear to blonde that Damon and Elena wouldn't be breaking up anytime soon. What she hadn't been expecting was to see Stefan shifting a little out of the corner of her eye. Maybe she was wrong and about Damon and Elena.

However, Elena's smile reaffirmed her belief that the couple were recovering from the roadblock they faced. "Things are really great," she answered as her hands seeked out Damon's and she interlocked her fingers with his. He glanced at her and smiled. He hadn't wanted to answer the question but hearing Elena be so positive about their relationship again, he was starting to feel a lot happier. "In fact, we're gonna leave to go on a roadtrip to New York tomorrow," she added excitedly.

"Seriously?" Anna asked as Elena nodded. Anna gave Jeremy a playful shove and asked him, "Why do you never take me on road trips to New York?"

Jeremy's eyes widened, not expecting the question. "Err, I… umm."

"It's because he's a bad boyfriend," Damon supplied.

Anna rolled her eyes. "So it seems."

"Thanks for this man!" Jeremy whined.

"If it makes you feel better Anna, Stefan doesn't take me anywhere either," Bonnie added giving Stefan a playful glare.

"So basically we've established I have the best husband," Elena giggled.

"And don't you forget it," Damon added pointedly.

Small talk ensued once again amongst them. Apparently, Matt and Caroline had finally set a date for their wedding, a little over eight months from now. Alaric was looking into going for the job to be the Head of Humanities department at Mystic Fall High. Jer had asked Anna to move in with him which made Elena happy. She was pleased with her brother's choice even if Anna was a vampire. She was caring, thoughtful and funny and Elena could clearly see that the female vampire loved her brother dearly.

Slowly as time ticked on people began departing. Alaric was the first to go as he had to get up bright and early for work the next day. Jeremy and Anna were next and the Stefan and Bonnie headed upstairs together. That left Damon, Elena and Andie.

"Did you girls have a good time then?" Damon asked hesitantly.

"Of course Damon! Thanks for the invite. I was really down about my grandma and this was exactly what I needed," Andie smiled.

"Well I'm glad," he replied. He nudged Elena with his hip. "How about you, huh?"

Elena gave him a small smile. "It was great. Just nice to see everyone."

He nodded before he got up from his seat. "Worst part of cooking has to be the cleaning up."

Elena stood up and pushed Damon back down onto his seat on the sofa. "You're not doing the cleaning up. You did the cooking so I do the cleaning."

"You really don't need to Elena. It'll be faster if I do it because I can use my vampire speed."

"I don't care. It's only fair that I do my part. We're a team," she said seriously.

He sighed. Elena was a stubborn girl, he knew that long before he married her. He reluctantly agreed to let her do as she wished. "Fine, but give up if it takes you longer than an hour."

"Fine," she agreed.

"I could help you with the cleaning if you like?" Andie suggested.

"Absolutely not," Damon butted in before yawning.

Andie raised an eyebrow at his strong indignation. "And why the hell not?"

"Because then I'll have to listen to you moan for half an hour when you break a nail whilst washing a plate or something."

Andie rolled her eyes. "I think you're confusing me with Caroline. Not all blondes are superficial."

Elena's eyes widened at how Andie disrespected her friend.

"Not all blondes are but you most definitely are," he replied, earning a little shove from Andie.

"I'm helping and then I'm leaving," she argued as she made her way into the kitchen.

Damon gave Elena a long look before speaking up. "Do you want me to help you out?"

"Damon, I think the two of us can handle the cleaning."

"That's not what I'm asking. The question is can you handle each other. It's definitely not lost on me that you're not a hundred percent comfortable with her," he noticed. She smiled at how considerate he was of her.

"No, it's fine. Yes, I'm not her biggest fan but she's important to you so I'm going to try my utmost best to get along with her."

He stared at her for a long moment before he whispered, "thank you."

"Anything for you," she replied honestly. "Anyway, I think you should head up to our room and wait for me to join you," she added with a cheeky wink.

He laughed jovially. "I think that that's the best idea you've had all day!"

He started making his way towards the stairs when she called out, "Dress up for me!"

He stopped and turned to look at her raising one eyebrow. "Errm, I'm a guy, we don't dress up. If anything, we dress down." She laughed at his reply. "But how about I pick out an extremely sexy lingerie set for you to dress up in?" he asked excitedly.

She rolled her eyes at his suggestion. "Fine!" she called out as she made her way to the kitchen to join Andie.

"You took your time getting here," Andie bit out a little harshly.

"Sorry, I just had a few things to say to Damon," Elena apologised.

"Sure." Elena wasn't quite sure how to respond to that so she decided to just get a move on with the work at hand. She turned the tap on and started washing the dirty plates. Andie stood next to her taking the newly washed plates from Elena and drying them with a tea towel.

They worked efficiently in silence before a question that had been bugging Elena since they first met came out of her mouth like word vomit.

"You don't like me do you?"

Andie looked at her before laughing. "No shit, Sherlock." The response surprised her. It wasn't that she wasn't expecting that answer, it was more that she was shocked by how Damon-like she sounded with her answer. Clearly Damon had rubbed off a little on her.

"So what did I do to deserve your hate?" Elena asked nonchalantly as she finished scrubbing the crockery and moved towards wiping the dining table.

Andie followed her and moved the placemats back to their original places. "You caused Damon a lot of pain. In fact, you still cause him a lot of pain." Elena's movements stilled hearing the words that were leaving the other woman's mouth. It wasn't true, was it?

"Why do you say that?" Elena asked abandoning all that she was doing.

"Because unlike you, I still have my memories. I was the one who had to comfort and be there for Damon every time you rejected him, hurt him and mocked his love for you. I was the one who had to help him see there was more to life than you but when you went running into his arms you destroyed everything I did for him." Elena's heart rate sped up, hearing how badly she treated Damon. "Your love is toxic. You do love each other, well I guess it's you _did_ love each other now, but you hurt each other just as badly."

"That's not true," Elena argued. "We have our arguments just like any other couple but our love it is… was so much more than that."

"You can keep thinking that but it's not going to be enough to keep Damon tied to you, no matter how hard you try. I'm always here to comfort him when you break him again. I've already comforted him in many ways than one," she said knowingly.

"If you're referring to the fact that you used to have sex with him, I already know."

"Is that so? You wanna know something new then? When I heard about your accident and that you were in a coma, I really hoped you wouldn't wake up for a long time. I thought God was finally giving Damon the chance to realise he deserves so much more than you. He deserves someone better."

Shock didn't cover how Elena reacted to Andie's hurtful words. She felt like her insides were slashed. Was she really that bad for Damon?

"What, someone like you?" Elena asked. Andie didn't respond but that was an answer in itself. "So what's to stop me from going to Damon right this minute and telling him all the awful things you just said to me?"

Andie smiled. "You know he won't believe you. He'll chalk it up to you being the jealous wife. He values our friendship and he won't let you ruin it." With those words, Andie grabbed her white clutch bag and departed.

A tear rolled down Elena's face as she stood there and let Andie's words sink in. Had she really caused Damon that much pain? Was being with him hurting him? He hadn't said that he loved her in a long time; did he not love her anymore? Was she not the same Elena now that she had lost her memories? Was he a masochist that enjoyed the pain she used to bring him with her love? She had all these questions and she wasn't sure she'd ever get her answers, especially if her memory never recovered.

Wiping the tear away with the back of her hand she pushed all her fears to the back of her mind and made her way up to her room. She stood in front of the closed door, taking a couple seconds to compose herself before she entered.

The sight before her was not what she was expecting. Damon had fallen fast asleep on their bed. She had noticed him yawning earlier on in the evening and she was now even more glad she had taken over the cleaning duties seeing as he was so shattered. It looked like there wasn't going to be any sexy-time that night in the end. Seeing him sleep so peacefully, the tears started flowing silently down her cheeks again. She changed into her pyjamas as quietly as she could and made her way over to the bed. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him, wanting to be enveloped in him in every way possible. She took a deep breath, inhaling him and bringing herself comfort in knowing that he was there. She looked up at his sleeping form before burying herself in him again. Andie was wrong. She was meant to be with Damon.

* * *

A/N Okay so a special thanks goes to Mollie (EverythingBasedOnMe) for helping me out a little with the direction of this chapter and to Dawn (ceruleanvixen) for being my MUSE ;). Check out their fics people, they're amazing and you won't regret it.

Also I just started a polyvore account where I made the outfits that Elena & Andie wear in this chapter so you can find it either through my twitter account or on my polyvore one.

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s  
Polyvore: cosmicbutton (dot) polvore (dot) com


	21. Chapter 21

A/N I'm so sorry about the wait! Unfortunately, exam season has started and so updates will be scarce until the beginning of July. I hope you'll all still be able to follow my story until the end. Thank you for the support guys, it's been truly fantastic.

* * *

Elena woke up to the feeling of Damon peppering her neck with kisses.

"Mmm," she moaned, slowly waking up. He began nipping at all the available skin on her neck and soothed it over with his tongue.

"Cute top," he mumbled into her neck. "I for one, totally agree with it."

"What?" she asked in a daze, her mind focused on the incredible sensations he was giving her with his mouth.

"Your top," he mumbled, not wanting to detach his lips from her silky skin.

She tried to clear her head and process what he was telling her and after a few seconds she was successful in her attempt. She glanced down at her top, which was slowly riding up as Damon's hands ran across her flat stomach.

His kisses started to travel south as his lips worked their way down to her breasts. Unfortunately that meant his head was blocking her view to her top. What the hell had he been going on about?

He dragged her top up and kissed her stomach as he slowly revealed more and more skin. Giving up caring about the top, Elena continued to moan again.

Before she knew it, Damon was ripping her top over her head and caressing every inch of her upper body. Her head turned to the side and dug into the pillow as she tried to hold in her moans whilst his talented mouth encircled her right nipple. This was heaven. Her eyes snapped open as she felt his mouth travelling further south. Her eyes focused on the alarm clock to see the time and what she saw gave her the willpower to push her husband off.

"Damon, look at the time!"

He was a little startled. One minute he was devouring his wife's body and the next he was on his back, facing the ceiling. He groggily tried to process what Elena had said and when he finally did, he glanced at the clock.

"It's 12:52pm, so what? It's not like you have a job to be late for."

She huffed. "We need to pack for our trip to New York!"

"We can do that later," he moaned as he rolled back on top of his topless wife.

She used all her strength to try and push him off again, but he wasn't having it. He began to nibble on her ear as she squirmed. She knew if he kept kissing her there was no way she would be able to do what she needed to do.

"No Damon, stop," she tried to say seriously. He sighed and pulled away. It may be his wife that he was trying to seduce but it didn't matter; if any woman begged him stop, he would. He'd rather they were begging for something else, but you can't always get what you want. He had learnt that the hard way.

"Seriously, you're giving up sex, with an incredibly sexy vampire might I add, for packing?"

She giggled. When he put it like that the notion was pretty absurd. "I guess you're not all that sexy anymore in your old age."

His mouth dropped open a little at her word. "My old age? So what I was fit when I was 169 but now I'm 170 I'm ugly?"

"Well you know what they say about 170s for vampires… it's like the 50s for humans. Now get off me so I can pack!"

Damon laughed at Elena. Where did she come up with these things?

"Fine! But you better make it up to me later with lots and lots of sex."

She moved out of bed rolling her eyes at his demands. "Sure," she replied sarcastically as she picked up the top that Damon had hastily removed from her body.

She rushed to put it on to shield her body from his ogling eyes.

"You don't need to cover up from me! Nothing I haven't devoured a thousand times over!" he called out to her as she blushed and escaped into their ensuite, locking the door behind her.

He may be her husband but that didn't mean that she was a hundred percent comfortable with how comfortable he was with her body. It would take some getting used to.

She glanced at herself in the full length mirror; her face was surprisingly fresh seeing as she hadn't even had her shower yet. It was only then that she glanced at her top and saw why Damon had said he agreed with it. She hadn't even looked at what it said when she grabbed it from her closet when she crept into their room the night before.

She couldn't stop the little laugh that escaped her lips. It was so weird how her last thoughts before snuggling up to Damon were lying across her top: 'You & Me Are Meant To Be.' In a chipper mood, she stripped out of her clothes and jumped into their luxurious shower, a part of her regretting the fact that she locked the door.

* * *

Damon grabbed her suitcase from her and shoved it into the trunk of his car along with his own. She had been surprised when Damon had refused to let her pack for him. She had scoffed when he said she'd pack 'fashion faux-pas' outfits for him. How can clothes mismatch when they were all black?

It was late afternoon by the time they had set off, leaving Mystic Falls behind.

"We're going to New York!" Elena squealed. Damon couldn't hold back the chuckle that escaped, witnessing her enthusiasm. He loved seeing her so happy. "So how long is this drive then?"

"About six hours or so," Damon said flippantly.

"That's not so bad. Plenty of time for me to get to know you better."

His eyebrows rose. "Is that so?" he asked turning to look at her. "What are you so curious to know then?"

"Mmmm…" she said trying to think of a question. "When is your birthday?"

Damon laughed at her question. "Seriously, out all the things you could ask me, you want to know when my birthday is?"

"Yep," she said nodding her head, "I wanna know if I have to plan a birthday bash anytime soon for my very old, decreasingly sexy husband."

"Sorry Elena, looks like it's only gonna be you celebrating a birthday soon. My birthday is November 10th."

"November, huh? Looks like your parents did the dirty on Valentine's Day!" she giggled as he rolled his eyes at her childish behaviour. "Wait a second; did they even have Valentine's Day back the 1800s?"

He sighed, "Yes Elena. Did you not learn anything from Ric in history at high school?"

She stuck her tongue out. "I'm sorry if Ric was more focused on teaching us about the history of Mystic Falls as opposed to the creation of Valentine's Day," she said sarcastically.

He frowned. "You're getting really sarcastic these days. Who have you been hanging out with?"

"You," she answered pointedly.

"Oh, well that would be it," he said flatly.

"Anyway, what was the greatest day of the 70s?"

In a heartbeat he answered, "There were no great days because you didn't exist."

All she could say was, "oh."

"Too overwhelming?" he asked worriedly as he looked at her rather than the road.

"No," she said quickly to reassure him. "Just unexpected."

"Really?" he asked surprised.

"Well it's probably not unexpected for your Elena. It's just for me; I would have thought you'd say something along the lines of getting plastered with John Lennon and then having an all you can eat buffet of girls, followed by a gigantic orgy."

Damon's eyebrows rose as he laughed at her crazy imagination. "Well that was what I was about to say but I didn't think you'd approve."

"Okay, so it was a bit of a crazy thought."

"A bit? Seriously though Elena, how many times do I have to let you know that there isn't an old Elena and a new one? There is just you and you know it."

She smiled. He was so understanding of the situation. She remembered how she had yelled at Stefan about how Damon got that there was no old and new Elena. Just her; Elena.

"I bet that your favourite day of the 80s was when I was born even though you never knew it." He smiled and silence descended. Nothing needed to be said. They both drifted into their own worlds as Damon turned the radio volume up.

* * *

'_You're the liar Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it and you're lying to me and you're lying to Stefan and most of all you're lying to yourself. I can prove it.'_

'_I love Stefan. It will always be Stefan.'_

Elena jolted away, her heart racing.

"Whoa, bad dream?" Damon asked.

She was still in a daze over what she had seen and heard. "Yeah, something like that. How far away are we?"

"About 2 hours away, you napped for a pretty long time. Left me really bored."

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I promise fun times only from here on out."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"What are you saying I don't know how to have fun?"

"Oh no, you know how to have fun. You just have to either be drunk or in my presence, otherwise you revert back into boring Elena."

"What?" Elena cried, not sure whether she should be offended or not.

"Don't even bother trying to deny it."

"I am not boring!"

"Well then how do you explain the fact that you found boring Saint Stefan interesting?" She sputtered over her words, not knowing how to reply to that. "Yeah, I thought so."

"Are you saying that Bonnie's boring?"

"Well, inadvertently yes. It's the truth."

"Are you trying to get on my bad side? Seeing as you're insulting me and my friends."

He quickly shut up, realising that that was exactly what he was unknowingly doing. "No. I'm just striking up a pleasant conversation."

"This isn't a pleasant conversation."

"What would you like to talk about then?"

"Nothing."

"I thought you just promised fun times from here on out?" he pointed out like a smart-ass.

"Not talking is fun for me. I never specified who the fun times were for."

Damon grunted at her response. He watched her carefully to see if she was really annoyed with him or if she was just playing him. He couldn't tell though. Her face was completely blank. It unnerved him. He was usually so good at reading Elena. But as he watched her out of the corner of his eyes it looked as though her mind may have actually been far away.

Had he gone too far? He couldn't stop worrying now. Why did he have to be so stupid sometimes? He'd already gotten their trip off to a bad start. Elena had been so excited about the trip and now she was probably wishing she didn't have to spend so much time with him. He always messed up good things.

"Can I ask you something?" Elena said breaking the silence suddenly.

He glanced over at her for a second with a questioning gaze before he went back to looking at the road. His mind was swirling. Had he not messed things up?

"Sure."

"Will you be truthful?"

"Depends."

"Damon!"

"Fine, I'll try my best to be truthful."

"Damon," she growled.

"Alright, alright. Stop getting your panties in a twist. What are you so desperate to know?"

"Did you lie to me?"

His lips pursed. "Well if what I just said two seconds ago doesn't indicate that I tell lies every now and again then I'd have to say you're not the smartest cookie around." She rolled her eyes. "You're gonna need to be a bit less vague Elena."

"When you told me our story, did you lie to me?" There was a pregnant pause in which Elena waited with bated breath.

"No."

"No?" she repeated in disbelief. He was lying.

"No I didn't lie; I just made things sound happier than they actually were."

"Did I hurt you?"

"Where is this coming from?" he asked as he debated whether or not to park the car on the side of the road.

"Answer the question Damon."

"Yes," he snapped. Silence fell. He had wanted to make things up to her but she just had to touch topics that didn't need to be touched.

"How?"

"What do you mean how?" he asked mechanically.

"What did I do to hurt you?"

"You didn't acknowledge my feelings for a while; then you toyed with them for your own benefit and threw Stefan in my face."

There was a stab in her heart, the second she heard about her despicable behaviour.

"I love Stefan. It will always be Stefan," she whispered.

"What?" Damon said in disbelief, his head snapping in her direction.

"I remember when I said it," she explained. She decided not to mention anything that Andie had told her. "I was wrong. I was scared, I think." Damon nodded slowly as he went back to driving. He didn't like this conversation. It was too raw; he felt vulnerable.

"It's okay. It's long in the past. We're over it."

"I know, but still I just- I just want to say I'm sorry."

He looked her way again, his eyes softening. "It's okay Elena, I get it. I forgave you a long time ago."

"I know but I had to hear your forgiveness again. I get why you had to find comfort in Andie. Just know that I'm going to do my best to never hurt you again. I know this whole amnesia thing has been hard on you, but you've been doing a great job. You've really helped me through it."

Damon was speechless. He had no idea how to respond. She was perfect and he could see she was holding her breath, waiting for his response.

"We really shouldn't have had this conversation whilst I was driving," he said stupidly.

She giggled. She definitely wasn't expecting him to say that. "I'll keep that in mind next time we have a heart to heart."

"Let's hope it's a while away."

She smiled and went to grab the hand that was lying on his thigh and interlocked it with hers. He glanced down at their hands before looking back at the road again without saying a word.

* * *

Elena's eyes widened as she took in all the skyscrapers.

"Wow, those are tall buildings," she said in complete awe. Damon laughed at her. He wondered if she realised how stupid she sounded. It was funny to see her go through the motions again. She had said the exact same thing the last time they went to New York. For some reason it warmed his heart to see she was exactly the same.

"They're called skyscrapers Elena."

"Oh, right," she responded, her mind clearly elsewhere as she stared at her surroundings. "This place is incredible. Oh my God is that the Empire State Building?" Elena asked, her eyes bugging out of their sockets. "It looks just like it does in the films!"

Damon nodded, deciding to just let her have her moment. He wondered if she had looked at their photo album in the Boarding House of their first trip to New York.

"We have to go see the Statue of Liberty tomorrow and we need to visit Central Park," she added excitedly. "This place is incredible."

"I believe you already said that."

"Oh," she turned to look at him, rather than out of her window. "Still, it's incredible… I'm being weird aren't I?"

He smiled. "No, you're just very excited."

"I'm weird."

"Okay, you're a little weird, but I love it." She smiled. He knew exactly what to say to make her smile, just like he knew exactly what to say to push her buttons.

Elena continued to take in everything she could about her surroundings. It wasn't every day that she found herself in New York City. Before long, Damon pulled into a car park for the hotel that they would be staying at.

"Hotel this time?"

"Well, seeing as we'd be here for a few days, I thought I'd make things cushy. You go in, I'll grab our bags. The reservation is under my name."

Nodding in understanding Elena made her way out of the car, stretching as soon as she was in fresh air. She twisted her neck to get all the cricks out before she walked through the glass doors and into the hotel.

As soon as she reached the desk she could see a blonde-haired guy who looked to be in his early twenties playing on his iphone.

"Excuse me," she called but it seemed he didn't hear her seeing as his earphones were blasting music into his ear.

She marched around to his side of the desk and gave him a light push that almost made him fall out of his chair.

"Whoa!" he called out as he tried to regain his balance. His eyes snapped up to glare at the person who shoved him but when his eyes landed on Elena, his expression quickly changed.

"Oh, hi there. Can I help you?"

"Yes you can," Elena said overly cheerful. "You can help me by doing your job," she deadpanned. He gulped, not expecting her to not be extremely happy with his presence.

"Right, errm would you like to book a room?" he asked nervously. He had never seen such a beautiful girl in his life.

Having set him straight, Elena was happy to go back to being a kind guest. "No, I've already booked a room actually."

"Can I have your name and address please."

"What? No!" Elena said indignantly.

"It's to check that the room is yours," he laughed, trying to give her his winning smile, hoping she'd fall under his charm. Elena had to reel her laughter in. Did this guy really think he had a chance? As soon as you laid eyes on Damon, you were ruined for all other guys.

"Oh, the reservation is under my husband's name: Damon Salvatore. The address is the Salvatore Boarding House, Mystic Falls, Virginia." She watched as the guy's eyes immediately widened upon hearing she was a married woman.

It was at that precise moment Damon walked into the lobby and spotted her.

"You still haven't gotten the room key yet?" he asked surprised as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"The guy here has been… distracted," she said pointing to the receptionist as he stared at his computer and tried to pretend the blush that was spreading across his cheek wasn't there.

Damon took one look at the guy and chuckled. "I hope it wasn't you he was distracted by."

Not wanting to embarrass himself further the receptionist gave them their room key and quickly hushed them towards the elevator.

* * *

Upon entering their room, Elena returned to her state of awe. "This is our room?"

"Yep," Damon replied, popping the 'p'.

"This is such a beautiful view," she commented as she walked onto the balcony.

"It really is," he said staring at her. She twirled around to face him and paused realising what he was really saying. Her heart swelled.

"I wasn't talking about myself."

"Who said I was?" Damon quipped as he followed her into the room with their king size bed.

"Have we ever stayed here before?" Elena asked with her back facing him.

Damon wasn't sure why she was asking. Did the place look familiar to her? "No."

She swirled around. "I know this isn't exactly a motel but wanna add another hotel to our list of hotels we've had sex in? Maybe it'll catch up with the number of motels we've had sex in," she asked coyly, whipping her top off in the process.

"This has to be the best thing you've said all day," he said as he ran towards her, picked her up, and dumped her on the bed whilst she squealed.

* * *

A/N Oh yeah, I totally gave Damon my birthday. Only person in the world I'm willing to share it with!

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s  
Polyvore: cosmicbutton(dot)polyvore(dot)com - You can find the nightclothes Damon & Elena wear in this chapter here ;)


	22. Chapter 22

A/N Just wanted to say, make sure you've read the last chapter before reading this one. I've been told by quite a few people that they never received an alert for it and it would seem that some of you may not have read it. I might be wrong, if so ignore me and enjoy this chapter!

* * *

"Damon! Damon! Damon!"

"Shut up Elena, some of us want to sleep," Damon said drowsily.

"But it's time to get up."

He opened one eye and glanced at the time on his mobile that lay next to him. "It's 8:03; that is not waking up time!"

"When you're on holiday it is," she argued, giving him a shove. "I wanna see New York!"

Damon moaned into his pillow and mumbled, "What did I do to deserve this?"

Elena didn't quite hear what he said. "What was that?"

"Nothing," he groaned. "You don't want to see New York during rush hour."

"I do though! It's part of the whole feel of the New York."

"The 'feel of New York'?" he repeated sceptically as he sat up. "I'm not gonna be allowed to go back to sleep am I?"

"No. You know what, I'm disappointed in you."

"What? Why?"

"I didn't think one night of sex would wear out a vampire this much."

"We went three rounds!"

"Exactly, three rounds… I could've gone another three rounds." Damon's jaw dropped open. He could not believe what he was hearing.

He moved to lie above Elena. "Right, it looks like I owe you those three rounds then," he said just before smashing his lips to hers in a searing kiss.

"Mmm," she moaned rolling them over so that she was straddling him. Her tongue pushed into his mouth, dancing together with his tongue in perfect synchronisation like the dance partners at all the Founders' events. She quickly detached herself from his body and hopped out of bed dragging the sheets with her to cover her naked body. "Sorry babe, you're gonna have to prove your stamina at some other point. We're going to explore New York now!"

"Na-uh. You can't offend my skills and then walk off. I am gonna have you screaming my name over and over and begging me for more. New York can wait." There was no debating with Damon when he was this determined to have his wicked way with her.

He ripped the sheets out of her arms, lifted her naked body off the ground and stumbled his way to the ensuite. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she pulled him as close as was physically possible without joining them together. He pushed her against the door to the ensuite.

"Ow!" she yelped tearing her lips away from his.

"Oh my God. I'm sorry did I hurt you?" he worried, pulling himself immediately out of the moment.

"No, it was the damn door knob; it's poking my lower back. Don't worry; you get back to kissing me!"

He chuckled. "Yes ma'am." He manoeuvred her body away from the door so that he could open it and enter the ensuite. She proceeded to leave wet open-mouthed kisses along his jawline and down his neck. He'd never admit it but for a second he worried his legs would give way and he'd fall with Elena in his arms to the ground.

He held her against one side of his body as he turned the shower on and tried to test the temperature of the water. When he got it perfect he jumped into the stuffy shower, careful not to hurt Elena. He huffed. The shower here was so much smaller than the one he was used to at home. But if he was looking at it in a positive way, it meant that Elena's body was pressed closer to his for longer.

He tried to put space between them dropping her legs from his waist.

"What are you doing?" she asked, panicked with the thought that he wanted to stop.

"Why I'm helping you shower of course."

"Can we just skip that part and go straight to the sex."

"Tut tut Elena. You can't skip to the main meal without having a starter."

With that he nudged Elena away from the spray and reached for the shampoo bottle. He stood behind her and poured a sufficient amount into his open palm before delving his hands into her luxurious brunette tresses. He massaged her scalp with his talented fingers earning a satisfied moan from Elena.

He next grabbed the bar of soap rubbing in onto his hands and beginning the exploration of his wife's body.

He ran his hands up and down her arms whilst he left open mouthed kisses along the nape of her neck and her silky smooth back. Elena leant back closer to him needing to hold onto him for stability. Her body was on fire in between the kisses and caresses. He was showering her with affection and to say she was loving it didn't even begin to cover her elation.

His hands moved to her stomach, caressing it and slowly inching up higher. Her heart beat wildly in anticipation.

His hands found her breasts and he began palming them. His thumbs brushed softly against her nipples causing them to pebble instantly. She felt like she was in heaven already and they were still at the beginning!

"Damon," she mumbled in pleasure.

He rubbed more soap onto his palms as he fell to his knees and pressed butterfly kisses up her right leg, his hands following the pathway of his lips. As his face reached the top of the leg he switched to the left leg and kissed down it as his soapy hands once again followed.

Once he reached her foot he looked up to give her a mischievous look. She knew what was coming. He stood up his eyes connected with hers. His lips reattached to hers in a sensual kiss, his left hand cupping her cheek as his right hand secretly moved to the part of her body that was pulsing with utter need for him. His fingers ran along her wet slit as she moaned at the contact.

He surprisingly removed his hand and pushed her back under the spray to wash out the shampoo from her hair and wash away the soap from her body.

Having been washed squeaky clean Elena turned to face Damon and smiled wickedly, "Your turn."

She squeezed the shampoo from the cylindrical bottle into her palm as stood on her tip toes to massage the liquid into his raven hair. He held her around the waist to prevent her from slipping and falling. He didn't mind seeing as being able to touch her was a pleasure he'd never take for granted. Just her close proximity was enough to make him happier than he had been in the first 165 odd years of his life.

She quickly moved onto the soap, desperately wanting to run her hands all over his body.

She brushed her hands up and down his lean chest, relishing in the feel of it under her fingers. She turned him around so that she could do the same to his muscular back.

She smiled happily as she ran her hands over his firm buttocks.

She followed his method of lathering up his legs. It proved to be a turn on for him as well.

Still on her knees, she wrapped her small hand around his pulsing length and proceeded to stroke him firmly. The pleasure washing through his body was immense and knowing it was the woman he loved that was bringing it to him was almost too hard to deal with. She was perfect.

Watching her husband moaning and lose control was surreal and she couldn't tear her eyes away from him.

She started pumping him faster, receiving tonnes of pleasure herself just from hearing him moan her name.

His face scrunched in satisfaction as he suddenly yanked her hand away.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" she panicked.

"You did things a little too perfectly Elena. I am releasing inside you, not all over your hands," he bit out, trying to get the shooting feelings in his body under control.

He yanked her up to standing level and pressed her back hard into the wall. He hoisted her up a little and she took the opportunity to wrap her legs tightly around his waist. They were back to their starting position. His cock rubbed against her slit as she silently begged for him to enter her.

The head of his penis slipped inside her but he held out from slipping further into her despite his desperation for release. He needed to hear her beg him just one more time. She almost cried out in frustration over his teasing but her need to be connected with him outweighed her pride. "Please," she whimpered.

The magic word was said and she got exactly what she wanted. Damon slipped his cock inside her, filling her to the hilt. He set a rapid pace that she was all too happy to meet.

Elena's eyes rolled and she tossed her head back, crying out loud unable to handle the feelings being ignited in her. "I'm-I'm gonna come!" she whimpered unable to last very long after all the foreplay.

Damon's hand manoeuvred its way in between their bodies and found her clit. His fingers rubbed it gently until he felt her body shiver. "Come for me…." he growled against her shoulder and she did exactly as he pleased. In that moment she exploded, tightening around his cock as her orgasm hit her. She bucked, writhing in his hands as the highs of her orgasm washed over her, sending Damon into his long awaited release too. "Elena!" he cried, thrusting one last time before emptying himself inside her.

Her head drooped onto his shoulder as he pressed a kiss to her hair and let his hands follow the droplets of water running down her body and evaporating.

A few minutes passed by in which Elena regained her breath and steadied her heartbeat. "Why is it always so amazing?" she asked in wonder.

"Because were perfect together," he said in a heartbeat. She nodded her head and planted one last kiss to his lips.

She unwrapped her legs from around Damon, turned the shower off and began making her way out and back to their hotel bedroom.

He grabbed her hand and held her back. "And where do you think you're going?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, not sure what the problem was. "Umm to get dressed."

"No, you're not. If I remember correctly, I still owe you another two rounds. Besides we still have to wash your hair with conditioner," he added cheekily, yanking her back into the shower.

* * *

"This way Elena," he said dragging her along.

"Slow down Damon! These heels are killing me." She was decked out in five-inch mesh and patent leather peep-toe ankle boots which probably wasn't the best choice considering they were exploring New York but they were too damn gorgeous to not wear. The rest of her attire consisted of leggings with rips spanning the whole length of both pant legs, paired with a cream floral lace top. Accessories were kept simple with black studs, a chunky black bracelet and a simple silver necklace.

"Fine, but only because you look so damn sexy in the heels. Remember to keep them on when we get back to the hotel."

She chose to ignore his comment despite being secretly proud by it. "Damon, why are you dragging me to a stupid café? I wanna go see the Statue of Liberty!" she whined like a five year old child.

He rolled his eyes. "We can go look at the scamming tourist attractions later."

"What and see the boring cafés that you can find in Mystic Falls now?" Elena asked sarcastically.

Damon stiffened. "Fine, we can go see whatever you want then," he huffed.

Elena immediately noticed the change in his demeanour and began to feel guilty. Clearly showing her this café had been important to him and she had just blown him off. He was kind enough to take her to New York and she wasn't being thankful.

He began walking in the opposite direction but after a few seconds he noticed that she wasn't following him.

"Elena, your precious statue is this way!" he called out after her as she carried on walking in the direction of the café.

"I'm going to the café!" she called back to him.

He vampire sped, until he was standing in front of her not even a second later.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm going to the café," she said pointing at the building he had been trying to take her to.

"Unbelievable!" he said shouting to the sky. "Do you never want to do the same things as me? Do you purposely do these things to annoy me?" he asked her agitated. She tried not to be too affected by his annoyance. She was doing the right thing now.

"I know you want to go to this café, so I want to go. Can we stop wasting time and just go?" she said walking past him and through the door, into the café.

His annoyance disappeared within the second. He understood. Elena wanted to go because he had and that made his insides churn. He followed her into the café.

He spotted her already at a table and laughed as he saw that she had picked the exact same table as before. He sat down opposite her.

"So what's so special about this place?" she asked, taking in her surroundings.

"This is the café where I used to work about 150 years ago. It looked a lot more trashy and edgy then than it does now."

"You used to work in a café?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well I guess I just never pictured you having a job. Besides, if you were to work I would have thought you'd get a job at a bar or something," she justified.

"Of course I've worked! I think it was mainly out of curiosity though… I quickly discovered that it wasn't much fun."

"Seeing as you worked here… any chance we could get a discount?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's not exactly like I can stroll up to the counter and tell them I worked here well over a century and a half ago and would therefore like them to give me a coffee for half price."

Elena shrugged. "It's worth a try," she said trying to keep her laughter in and failing miserably.

Just then, a waiter came and took their order of two coffees.

"That wasn't the main reason I wanted to show you this place."

"Oh, really? Why else?"

"I was hoping it would spark a memory in you," he said truthfully.

"Oh?" she said dumbly, her insecurities surfacing. He had never really ever said anything about wanting her to remember but that didn't mean she didn't know he wanted her to. She would never tell him but she sometimes worried about whether or not she'd remember everything from her life. She was getting some memories back and that was promising but in proportion to how much she had lost she had basically remembered nothing. Sometimes the pressure of needing and wanting to remember was too much.

Their coffees were placed in front of them and as soon as the waiter disappeared Damon spoke up.

"That came out wrong. I just meant…"

"It's fine Damon. Just fill me in on what it is that happened here," she said painting a fake smile on her face. She didn't want Damon to feel bad so she had to pretend she wasn't sad that she couldn't remember.

Damon was not a fool. He knew when Elena was lying and he felt awful for what he had said. He hadn't just brought her here for her memory. It was complicated. Of course he wanted her to remember but that didn't mean he didn't love her just as she was. He tried to brush the moment off, for both their sakes.

"Well a lot of things happened here," he said waggling his eyebrows.

Just as he had silently predicted a shade of red travelled along her cheeks. "Is that seriously why you brought me here? We just did that three times already and it's only midday now!"

He chuckled. "No. That isn't what I wanted you to remember either… although it did happen, in the men's toilet might I add. Actually, this was the place where I asked you to marry me."

"What?" she asked despite having heard him perfectly the first time.

"It wasn't prepared. I didn't have a ring. It just came out of my mouth. I mean… the thought of asking you to marry me had been swirling around in my head but I mean I'm me, I didn't think I'd do it."

She smiled. He was waffling; she hardly ever saw him this way. "So what made you ask then?" She was excited to hear the story. She wondered why she'd never asked how he popped the question before.

"I don't know. You I guess, you made me ask. You were just smiling and laughing and looking as beautiful as you always do," she blushed at his compliment. _'I mean come on! A compliment from Damon in the beauty department is like a compliment from Leonardo DiCaprio or even Cary Grant in the acting department.'_

"What were we talking about when you asked?" she asked sipping on her coffee.

"Nothing special. You were pretty excited about the trip so you were yappering on about how you wanted to go see the Statue of Liberty. Pretty much exactly how you are today."

"You're lying!"

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"Okay, maybe a little. You wanted to see the Empire State Building, not the Statue of Liberty."

She rolled her eyes. "What did I say?" At this moment in time, she desperately wished she could remember this special memory.

"You were stunned into silence at first. Kept asking me if I was joking, to which I replied I was dead serious. Then you were incoherent for a while before you started mumbling that you were too young and it was too quick for us to take such a big step."

"Then why did I say yes?"

"You took one look at my face and I could see you were about to say 'no' and then out came the word 'yes' and I guess it was my turn to be stunned into silence."

"I wonder why I changed my mind?"

"Clearly my dashing looks and exceptional personality were just too irresistible."

"It clearly wasn't your modesty that made me want to marry you."

"I don't know what it was but I'm just thankful and so happy you said 'yes'." His words made her heart swell. _'He wasn't lying when he said he had dashing looks and an exceptional personality. He's amazing. I love him. Wait… what? Did I really just think that? Do I love him? I think I do. I love him.'_

"If I had known marriage was this amazing I would have gotten married long before."

"What?" Elena asked, being pulled out of her thoughts.

"I said, if I had known marriage was this amazing I would have gotten married long before," he repeated eyeing her weirdly.

She scoffed. "And then you would have gotten a divorce pretty soon after. I'm the one that makes this marriage so great for you. It's not marriage, it's me!"

He laughed. "Now look who's being oh-so modest."

They continued to sip on their coffee as Elena drifted back to her thoughts. _'I love him. Should I tell him? Yes. No. Yes. No. I don't know.'_

"You ready to go?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she answered, her mind far away.

His eyes squinted as he watched her. "What is it?" he asked, knowing something was up.

Now was the perfect opportunity to tell him. Tell him that she was in love with him.

"Nothing, why?" Just like that the moment passed by.

"Fifteen minutes ago you were as excited as a dog with a ball at the idea of going to see the Statue of Liberty and now you look like you couldn't be bothered whether or not we go."

Pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind she jumped up out of her seat. "The Statue of Liberty you say? I wanna go! Come on," she smiled, dragging him out into the street.

* * *

Elena was exhausted by the time they made it back to their hotel. They had done everything they could possibly fit into one day in New York. They went to the Statue of Liberty, and then they went to The Empire State Building, where they had taken dozens of photos. Next, they did a spot of shopping and like a typical tourist she bought the 'I love NY' top. They stopped to have dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzaria and they just about managed to visit Times Square and Central Park.

Damon being a vampire meant travelling from place to place was pretty quick. He had required quite a few blood bags after all the effort he had used carrying her and using vampire speed from location to location.

It was safe to say both of them had been all to glad to just go straight to bed and soon as they walked through their room door.

'_Yes Damon! Right there."_

_Elena stood there in shock at the scene playing before her. She didn't know what to do; how to feel. If anything she felt numb._

"_Rose," he moaned._

_She had to get out of here. Seeing him like this… with another woman, she hadn't been prepared for this. She didn't know why there were tears blurring her vision. She had known that this had been happening but still, seeing it live was a completely different thing to knowing it was happening. Her heart stung. _

_She had forgotten the reason for why she even entered the Boarding House. As soon as she had walked through the front door she could hear the moaning and curiosity led her to see what was going on in the parlour. Seeing a topless Damon and Rose writhing on the couch made her regret the decision to see what was going on immensely._

_It was like all of sudden Damon could feel her eyes burning into his back and his eyes shot up to meet hers. She registered the surprise in them. She found herself no longer frozen on her spot. She immediately turned away from Damon and started to run out of the Boarding House, the tears silently running down her face._

_She could faintly hear Damon's voice calling her name out but she didn't care. Right now she had one mission and one mission alone: getting as far away from Damon Salvatore as humanly possible._

Her eyes shot open as she gasped for air. She glanced to her right to see Damon's sleeping figure right next to her. She couldn't stop the tears that ran down her cheeks. So many questions were flying around in her brain. Who was that girl? When did that happen?

* * *

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	23. Chapter 23

A/N Surprise update! I feel like it is a tradition to post a chapter the day before a fail a mechanics exam. Anyway I must say a really big thank you for the response in the last chapter; I had some of the best reviews ever, so THANK YOU!

Also, you may want to look over the last scene in chapter 3 as I'm sure many of you may have forgotten it. I had. That's the problem I have with having started this story so long ago! Anyway it is just a little scene about Tyler being a werewolf. Not a big issue.

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Damon rolled over, his arm reaching out for Elena's body, but only finding her half of the sheets. His eyes opened immediately as panic began to rise in him over her disappearance. His eyes darted around the room but she was nowhere to be found. Where the hell was she?

He quickly moved out of bed grabbing his trousers off the nearby chair and shuffling into them. He grasped his shirt, using vampire speed to get it on as fast as possible. He had to find her. She could be in trouble.

He scurried towards the door of their hotel room but stopped in his tracks when he heard it. Her heartbeat. He was sure of it. She was definitely still somewhere in their hotel room, he had just somehow managed not to see her. He listened carefully to her heartbeat and walked in the direction that it was coming from. He walked back into the main room and it was then that he spotted her. She was sitting on a deck chair out on the balcony, soaking up the rays of the rising sun.

"Elena," he breathed with a sigh of relief. But seconds later his panic began to resurface. She wasn't acknowledging his presence.

"Elena?" he called out tentatively. Still there was no response.

He moved to stand in front of her and shouted, "Elena!" Nothing.

She continued to stare off into the distance at the beautiful, lively city that was New York City.

He kneeled down right in front of where she was seated. Using his right hand he tilted her chin in his direction so that their eyes could lock. One look into her eyes and he could see something was wrong. She had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy.

"What's wrong Elena?" he whispered, frozen with worry for her.

Still she didn't respond and so he pushed on. "Did you have a nightmare?" he tried to guess. He let his hand slip off her chin, now that she seemed focused on him.

"Who is Rose?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"What?" he automatically responded, not expecting her to ask that. Where had that come from?

"Who is Rose?" she repeated, this time more harshly.

"She was a friend. Did you have a memory?" he asked excitedly.

"So she was a friend with benefits," Elena stated completely ignoring his second question.

Damon's face scrunched up. "I don't like that term but yes, she was," he answered truthfully.

"So what term do you prefer, fuck buddies? Now that I think about it, it does have a nice ring to it," she spoke harshly.

"Elena," Damon breathed out, not wanting to let his frustration get the better of him.

"So did you hook up with this one before or after me? Was she before Andie or after? Or did you lose track of when you were with all of us?" she asked, her eyes flaring.

The penny dropped. She was worried that he had cheated on her with Rose. He had no idea why she would think such a thing.

"Elena, I haven't slept with anyone else the whole time that I've been with you. Hell, I haven't even looked at a girl twice since we started dating. You're it for me. No other girl can ever compare to you.

"When did you sleep with her then?" she asked not backing down, trying to not let his sweet words break her resolve.

"Before you."

"I gathered. Was she before Andie?"

"Yes, before Andie."

"So you were with her when I was with Stefan?" she asked wanting clarification.

"Yes," he nodded.

"Was she as poor a taste as Andie?" she sneered.

Those words were enough to flip Damon's mood from supportive yet worried to hurt and angry.

He immediately stood up and walked away from the balcony back into the main room. Elena was hot on his heels; clearly the argument was not over for her.

"I thought you said you were going to be supportive of my friendship with Andie. Was that just a lie then?" he asked, turning around to face her.

_You know he won't believe you. He'll chalk it up to you being the jealous wife. He values our friendship and he won't let you ruin it._

Andie's words ran round and round her head as Damon waited for her to respond. She didn't know what to do. Was Andie right? Would Damon side with Andie over her?

"It wasn't a lie. I just don't trust her," she didn't like how her offence was becoming defence.

"And I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you to not make jabs at her because you don't know her the way I do. You only see the superficial outside but she isn't just that."

"No Damon. There is no more to her. She's selfish and manipulative and she has you thinking she's a princess when really she's a wicked witch."

"And your friends are so perfect, huh? Are you seriously trying to tell me that Caroline isn't whiny, bossy and immature? Are you telling me that Bonnie isn't frustrating, selfish and up herself?"

To say Elena was hurt was an understatement. Is this what he really thought about her friends? She could see why they weren't supportive of her decision to be with Damon back when she first lost her memory.

"Well it seems both of us suck at making good friends. Although I think Andie has to top the list for 'sucky friends'."

"Can we stop talking about Andie?" he pleaded. He really wasn't in the mood to argue with Elena. He didn't want their trip to New York to be ruined by something as stupid as a friend.

"That's a good idea, why don't we get back to your other whore, Rose?" Elena had no idea where all this anger was coming from. She usually never cursed but just the image of Rose writhing underneath _her_ Damon made all kinds of nasty sides to herself come out. It was one thing to know that Damon was having sex with another girl but it was something else entirely to see it happening.

Elena's harsh words were enough to make the string snap. Damon could no longer be held accountable for his actions. The anger that had been simmering inside him had been set alight and now his anger matched that of a roaring flame.

"You don't get to say anything disrespectful about Rose," he snarled.

Elena's heart tightened. What was so special about this girl? Was she another dear friend?

"Why not?"

"Because believe it or not she was the ambassador of the 'Damon Elena better get it on and realise they are perfect for each other fanclub' as she liked to say. She was rooting for us."

Elena's anger all dissipated within the second. In an instant she knew Rose wasn't like Andie. But where was she now?

"If she wanted us to be together then why was she sleeping with you?"

"I don't know Elena; to help pass time. When you live for over 400 years like her, the lines between what is right and wrong and what one should and shouldn't do start to get blurry. She wanted to sleep with me so she did."

"She's a vampire?"

"Was. She's dead now." He tried to say it indifferently but having spent so much time with him over the last month and a bit, Elena could read him pretty well and she knew that the death of Rose must have affected him deeply. She could see how something inside him closed up as soon as he corrected her.

The guilt that consumed her was overwhelming. Damon had lost yet another woman that had meant something to him.

So what if the woman had slept with him? What girl on this planet hadn't? Her own friend, Caroline had. And even her biological mother for that matter. But none of them ever had what she had. She had his heart, his affection, his love. And his love may be the most precious thing in the world. She was the only woman in the world to have it.

The past is the past. Like Damon had told her before: she would be the only one ever from now on. He was completely hers and she couldn't be happier about it.

"How did she die?" she asked softly, curiosity getting the better of her.

Having heard that Elena had calmed down, he automatically did too. They were like that. They were so in sync with each other's moods and the way they were connected to each other in almost every single way, was amazing to see. When one's voice raised, the other's did, like they were challenging each other and when one calmed down so did the other, as though they were supporting each other.

"Mauled by a werewolf. Tyler had a friend who was trying to teach him how to get control over his werewolf side, keep it at bay, after the incident in which he bit Caroline. I told you about that, didn't I? Turns out the werewolf girl didn't even know how to bloody control it and she pounced on Rose and mauled her to death. This incident is why Tyler is so hell-bent on helping other new werewolves with their transition. It was why I had to pick him up from Tennessee." He took a deep breath before carrying on, "It could've been me you know. It was so close to being me. I was standing on the exact spot, where Rose was when the werewolf pounced, not even thirty seconds before it happened. I had spotted you and Stefan in the distance and had been distracted. I had started moving closer towards you, just because I needed to be near you."

Elena's heart pounded in her chest, as she listened to the story. She could've been so close to losing Damon. Her life could've been so different. She would've never had this; an incredible life with Damon. Elena had to thank her lucky stars that it wasn't him who was mauled.

Hearing his words, she had understood the subtext. He felt incredibly guilty for Rose's death. On some bizarre level, he blamed himself. He shouldn't though; he hadn't known what was about to happen when he moved away. It would have been a completely different story if he had set it up but it hadn't, it was purely coincidence or maybe it was fate. Maybe fate saved Damon for her and the sacrifice was Rose's life.

Although she felt guilty for how awful she had been about Rose, she couldn't muster one smidgem of guilt that it was her who died and not Damon.

"I'm sorry," she apologised. "I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sorry for my inexcusable behaviour."

Damon's eyes softened. "It's okay. Her death was a long time ago and I've made peace with it. You helped me through that." He moved closer to her so that they were now standing only inches apart, rather than metres apart. "And I forgive you for your dumb behaviour. It's pretty well-known that I don't always say and do the right things."

"Thanks. I just- I felt threatened by the memory."

His eyebrows scrunched up. "Which memory was it?"

"I was standing in the Boarding House parlour watching you and Rose… get it on," she explained, a bitter taste in her mouth.

Damon's lips made an 'o' shape. He remembered that day vividly. He had been distraught and confused over Elena's reaction. She had ran out and successfully managed to avoid him for a good week. For so long he hadn't understood why she had been away, he had a niggling idea but he refused to let hope interfere with reality.

It hadn't been until they had started sneaking around behind Stefan's back that she confessed she had already been in love with him on some level at that point, and seeing him with Rose had pained her. She hadn't let the idea of the two of them being together enter her mind for too long before that moment because it was a scary, overwhelming thought. But seeing him with another woman had made her realise that as scary as it was to think about leaving Stefan for his brother it was scarier to think of Damon moving on and falling in love with someone else.

"I'm sorry about that. I hadn't meant for you to walk in and see that," he expressed honestly.

"I know and I'm pretty sure we've probably already had this conversation and moved on a long time ago but thanks for saying it again. It helps."

"I know it's hard sometimes but I need you to always trust me."

Elena's eyes softened. "I do trust you… I trust you more than anyone," she whispered, knowing he'd hear her loud and clear.

He smiled. "I love you."

Elena's insides went crazy. He loves her. She knew but still, hearing it was totally different.

"I know I haven't said in a while but I didn't want to scare you off. I just feel like you need to know that I love you, that I will always love you and only you."

Now was the perfect moment to tell him that she felt the exact same way. There would be no moment better than this one. It was like God was handing her the moment. There even seemed to be a pause in time, waiting for her to repeat the words back to him, but as she opened her mouth, nothing came out; absolutely nothing.

She blinked and then took a large gulp. She opened her mouth again and rather than an 'I love you too', out came, "I know.

There was an awkward moment in which Damon nodded his head and said, "Good.

She couldn't believe herself. The perfect time to tell him of her newly developed feelings was handed to her on a silver platter and yet she hadn't taken it.

"So do you still want to see Grand Central?" he asked, unsure where to go from there.

"Sure," she said plastering a smile on her face. She'd happily explore New York for the rest of the day, like she had the day before, and she would try to dissect her actions later when they were back in Mystic Falls.

* * *

The ride back to Mystic Falls was relatively awkward. If she was being truthful the whole day had been pretty awkward and she could only blame herself. Damon hadn't seemed to have been all that affected by her lack of 'I love you' but she hadn't been able to get it out of her mind despite telling herself she wouldn't think about it. She should have said it. Why didn't she? Anytime Damon touched her, she jumped. She soon noticed that he stopped bothering trying to touch her.

She snuck a look in his direction but he seemed pretty focused on driving. The combination of the paracetamol she had taken to calm her raging headache after all the thinking she had been doing, with the lack of sleep after her memory midway through the night led to her nodding off.

Damon glanced at Elena before looking back at the road. She had fallen asleep. He had tried hard to block out any thoughts about her behaviour all day but he couldn't hold it in anymore. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. Things hadn't been this awkward between them since Elena first woke up from her coma with amnesia. Whenever he had tried to strike up conversations with her, she had hardly seemed interested. He could've sworn she hadn't even listened half the time and when she did, her replies always consisted of the bare minimum. He had even seen her flinch a couple times when he placed his hand on the small of her back to direct her.

He glanced again at her sleeping form and his chest tightened. She was so beautiful. He loved her. He half regretted telling her though. He had pinpointed the moment he told her he loved her as the moment she had begun acting weird.

For a moment he had thought she'd say the words too and he felt so stupid for thinking she would. He'd let his imagination get the better of him. He felt stupid for getting his hopes up. Of course not enough time had passed since her accident, for her to fall in love with him. All he knew was that he wouldn't give up. He loved this beautiful, sexy, funny woman and he'd never let her go.

* * *

Thoughts? Everyone pissed off at Elena? Don't worry guys you'll get your 'I love yous'… at some point. Please leave a review! I'd be very grateful.

Twitter: CosmicButton


	24. Chapter 24

A/N Seriously cannot believe it guys. Over 1000 reviews! Mind-blowing. You guys are all incredible. I have so much love to anyone who has ever left a review/ will ever leave a review.

Also want to say a big thank you to Ayna who made me a beautiful banner for this story. A link to it can be found (hopefully if it decides to work) on my profile… so check it out!

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Elena woke up from her peaceful slumber with a cramp in her neck. She stretched her neck from side to side to try and ease the pain but sadly it was to no avail. She glanced at Damon driving the car to see he was in his own world.

"Damon," she whispered her voice hoarse from not speaking in a while.

He snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes flickering to her. "You're awake. Good nap?"

"Mmmhmm," she mumbled. "How far away from Mystic Falls are we?"

"About half an hour."

"Could you drop me off at Caroline's place?" she asked tentatively.

His eyebrows creased at her request but he didn't probe her for more information. He just nodded his head in agreement.

"I can't wait to get all our pictures printed," Elena said excitedly.

Damon smiled. It seemed Elena was back to her usual self.

"Have you seen the album of photos from our first trip to New York?"

"No, there's a photo album?" she asked her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, it's on the book shelf in our room. There's a lot of blank pages at the back where you can insert the photos we've just taken." His eyes widened suddenly. "You don't have to though. If you want to start a new one, that's fine." He tried to correct himself as quickly as possible. He hadn't thought about whether or not she'd want to put these photos with ones she couldn't remember being a part of.

"No it's fine. I'll just put it in that album."

Awkward silence filled the car but it thankfully only lasted a few minutes as Damon pulled up outside Caroline's house.

Elena stepped out of the car and turned to say bye to Damon but he wasn't there. _'Where the hell did he go?'_ She turned around again to face Caroline's house except she wasn't facing Caroline's house, she was facing Damon. The fact that she hadn't been expecting him to be there, let alone so close led to her jumping out of her skin and screaming.

He chuckled at her behaviour and when she had calmed her heartbeat down and become more aware of what had happened, she proceeded to thump Damon as hard as she could.

"Don't do that to me!" she whined.

"I'm sorry. It's just it never gets old. Scaring you is always funny!"

"Glad I could be a source of amusement."

"So I'll see you in a few hours?" Damon asked, with a concerned edge to his voice.

"Yep," Elena confirmed as she looked at the ground.

"Okay."

"Cool."

She looked up at him, her brown orbs connecting with his flashing cerulean ones and she gave him a small timid smile before she moved to walk around.

She had moved about one step away from him when he caught her wrist and pulled her back into his body. His hands cupped her cheeks as he connected his lips to hers. His tongue ran along her bottom lip, pleading for entrance into her mouth, something she was only too happy to give her consent to. She unconsciously ran her hands up his chest, feeling the muscles of his pecs underneath his shirt. One of his hands moved away from her cheek and ran down her body to wrap itself around her waist, and pull her in as close as humanly possible.

The need for oxygen was the sole reason Elena had to pull her lips away from her husband's. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen. She cleared her throat before mumbling a meek 'bye' and disentangling herself from Damon. She scurried towards the front door of Caroline's place, looking over her shoulder once to see Damon standing in the same place, his mind racing with thoughts.

She didn't have to wait long for Caroline to open her door after she had rung the bell. Caroline greeted her enthusiastically and rushed her into her house. Elena took one more glance over her shoulder to look at Damon but all she saw was his Camaro zooming off into the distance.

"So why the sudden text to meet up?" Caroline asked as she poured them both a cup of coffee and handed Elena's one to her.

"Erm. Can I ask you something?" Elena asked tentatively as she sipped on her fresh coffee.

"You can ask me absolutely anything. Let's just relocate to my bedroom. The living room is mess seeing as Matt's just moved some of his stuff in."

As the girls trudged up the stairs, Elena tried to prepare everything that she wanted to tell Caroline.

They entered her overly pink room and sat on Caroline's newly made bed.

"Matt is moving in here?" Elena asked sceptically.

"He wants us to redecorate the room before he moves in," Caroline explained as she rolled her eyes. "That's why he hasn't moved anything in here yet. Honestly though, what's wrong with a bit of pink?"

"Erm there's nothing wrong with a bit of pink; emphasis on the bit. But," she pointed around the room, "you have pink walls, pink curtains, pink duvets and pink pillows. That's not really a bit of pink."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes again. "So what did you want to speak about? Is everything okay?"

"No, not really," she sighed. "Things aren't really bad or anything. I'm just really confused. I'm finding it hard to separate all my feelings and emotions and I don't know what to do."

Caroline sympathised for her friend. She could never imagine being in the same situation as Elena. Not understanding everything about her own life, not knowing her dreams and aspirations, not knowing the one she loves.

"Okay well let's go one problem at a time and try and separate your feelings and thoughts for each of them," Caroline suggested getting into her 'organiser' mood as she drank her coffee.

"It's Damon."

"Aaah the eternal bane of my existence." Elena sent her a glare. "Alright, alright I'll reserve judgement!" She held her arms up in surrender.

"I don't know why it bothers me so much but it does. I get that there's a difference but because I can't remember, it just all feels like a little too much and –"

"Elena, I'm just gonna stop you there because you're not making a lot of sense. In fact, you sound like me when I'm stressing. What are you talking about?"

"Damon and all the girls!" she exclaimed, frustrated.

Shock presented itself on Caroline's face. "What girls?"

"Andie, Rose, my mom, you!" Elena got up from her sitting position to place her empty mug on the night stand and went on to pace back and forth in front of Caroline.

Caroline's eyebrows furrowed before she stood up, put her mug down, and stopped Elena in her path. She held onto her shoulders so that all of Elena's focus was on her.

"Elena I'm going to say this once and only once because I can't believe I'm defending Damon like this. You don't ever have to worry about any of the other girls that Damon has been with. There is a fundamental difference between you and every other girl in the past century and a half of his life. He loves you. You know it, and if you just accepted it whole-heartedly you'd have a hell of a lot less problems. Yes a part of me resents Damon for the way he treated me and that part of me always will, but I see him with you and he's like Prince fucking Charming. When he's with you, it's hard to believe he was the guy who used me. He's like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. But I understand; he used the rest of us to help him cope. Sleeping with girls was his way of coping until he found you and until he had you."

Elena smiled as she listened to Caroline's little rant. Caroline was right and she knew it. She knew Damon loved her and treated her as well as anyone could wish to be treated. She had to accept his past and move on. If she just accepted it and accepted his love she'd be better off.

"Thanks Care. You're so right," she smiled as she pulled her blonde friend in for a tight hug.

As soon as she pulled back, Caroline spoke up. "Now what else is bothering you?"

Elena did a double take as she looked back at her friend. "What? What makes you think there's anything else bothering me?"

The blonde sighed. "Elena, I've been your friend for a very long time. If there's something still up with you, I know."

"Please can you just reserve judgement until I've finished?" Elena asked, panic rising in her at the thought of revealing all that she had kept inside her.

"Of course. I won't say a word," she promised as she motioned zipping her lips, locking and throwing the key away.

"There's been so much going on that I've been keeping in. I don't even know where to start. I guess Stefan was the first problem. He kissed me and-"

"HE DID WHAT?" Caroline screeched.

"What did I say about waiting until the end to comment?"

"Sorry," Caroline squeaked. "Continue."

"Yeah, so the night we went up to the musical, he kissed me and so I slapped him."

"WHOA, YOU DID WHAT?" Elena just gave her a glare for interrupting again and that was enough for Caroline to correct her mistake. "Sorry!"

"He seemed to have it in his head that we could get back together and that everything would be dandy. I have no idea how he could think that would ever be possible, seeing as I'm married to his brother. I think he's actually a little delusional. I don't know. But I yelled at him to leave Bonnie and even leave town for a while. I know it's not my place to make that decision for him but Bonnie is my friend; she deserves to have someone who loves her and only her; someone who never looks twice at another girl." Elena turned to look at Caroline but she didn't say anything. "You can speak up now." Still Caroline didn't say anything. "Care?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little shocked right now. Stefan really did this? I can't believe it. He was the good one. I thought he was over you?"

"He says that he was but all the feelings came back as soon as I started acting more like 'old' Elena."

"I don't think I'll ever understand that guy. I genuinely thought he was over you. I would've never let him date Bonnie if I had thought differently. Bonnie's going to be heartbroken."

"Wait, so you think I did the right thing by forcing him to break up with Bonnie?"

"Well, I'm not sure you went about it the right way. Guys hate it when you tell them what to do. Being with Matt for so long makes me sure of it. But he does need to break up with Bonnie, both for his and her sake."

Elena let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't making a colossal mess of things.

"Wait, did you tell Damon about this? He would have gone bat shit crazy and pulverised Stefan to pieces by now!" Caroline asked, surprised Stefan hadn't ended up dead in a ditch.

"Well you see…"

"You haven't told Damon?"

"Yes I have, sort of… not really… no."

"Why not? You need to be honest with him. That's how relationships work!" Caroline screeched.

"I know. It's just Damon would go crazy-"

"And quite rightly so! I'm so thankful I don't have any siblings for Matt to try and get off with."

Elena ignored her last comment. "It's just that Stefan is Damon's brother. They're family. I don't want to be the cause of their bond breaking. I don't want their love for me to ruin their love for each other."

"You didn't ruin it Elena. Stefan ruined it with his actions. They're vampires, they'll fight but they have eternity to forgive each other and get back to being brothers who are happy for each other again. You have to tell Damon. He deserves to know. Besides, what if he finds out somehow? The damage will be done and it may be irreparable for your relationship. Damon has always been a big believer of honesty in your relationship," Caroline tried to explain and comfort to the best of her ability.

"I know. I'm just scared. No matter how awfully Stefan behaves, he'll always be my first love, just like Damon is the one I lo- the one I'm married to."

Elena went to sit back down on the edge of the bed with Caroline. She rested her head on Care's shoulder.

"I'm sorry you've been suffering all alone like this," Caroline whispered feeling guilty for not having been there more for her friend who was still going through a dramatic life-change. She had taken things too lightly like she always did and had been too self-absorbed only worrying about planning her wedding.

Elena forced a small smile. "It's not your fault Care. It's all mine."

"Hey! It's not your fault! It's Stefan's fault."

"It's not Stefan's fault though. Everything would've been fine if I hadn't gotten into that car accident."

"The car accident was a freak accident, therefore, not your fault."

"Are you sure though? What if I pissed someone off and they did this on purpose? What if they wanted to kill me because I'm Katherine's doppelganger?"

"Believe me, nothing like that happened. Damon made sure of it."

"What do you mean Damon made sure of it?" Elena asked shrewdly.

"Well he went a little mental, straight after your accident, and found every fact he could possibly find about the accident. It was genuinely a hit and run caused by the guy jumping the red light. Damon beat him up pretty badly…"

Elena's eyes widened in fear. "He didn't kill him did he?"

"No, just ruffled him up quite a lot. I'm not gonna blame him for doing so because I wanted to do the same… but then I didn't want to break my nails," she joked, trying her best to lighten up the mood.

"He really shouldn't have done that. The guy was probably feeling guilty and maybe even already hurt as it was."

"I'll repeat I'm not gonna blame Damon for what he did. The guy was an asshole for running away from what he did to you and he deserved to get pulverised by Damon."

"But…"

"Nope. No buts! You have no idea how thankful we all are that you didn't die because honestly Elena, it was a little touch and go there for a while. Damon was in despair; he was complete mess."

Elena swallowed slowly, taking everything in. She hadn't really thought too much about how serious her accident was. It was stupid how danger didn't have the same meaning it once had when she was a little girl. Being surrounded by vampires made her take for granted how easily her life could be taken away from her. Damon gave her his blood as soon as she got out the hospital, so she hadn't really experienced for too long just how damaged, bruised and beaten up her body was.

"There's something else I've been keeping hidden from Damon," Elena whispered quietly.

"Seriously?" the blonde's eyes popped out of her sockets. "How many secrets have you been keeping girl! How have you not exploded? I can't keep a secret for even two minutes."

Elena giggled. She honestly didn't even know how she had kept her mouth shut about so many things. She guessed that was why she was here to unload on Caroline because she couldn't keep it in any longer.

"It's Andie."

Caroline's facial expression mirrored that of confusion. "Andie? The reporter girl? What has she got to do with anything?"

"Well you know she's like Damon's friend."

"Yeah, I totally don't get that friendship by the way."

Elena let out a bitter laugh. "Neither do I. The girl is the devil."

"What did she do?" Caroline asked getting angry at the thought that the devil girl had done something to her friend.

"She said some not so nice things to me."

"Like what?" the blonde demanded to know.

"She said that my relationship with Damon was toxic and that I just cause him pain. She even went as far as saying she had hoped I wouldn't wake up from my coma for a long time."

The gasp that came from Caroline said it all. "That sneaky, little erghh! She did not say that to you! Don't listen to a word she says."

"I know but what if she has a point? What if all I do is cause trouble and agony for Damon?"

"You know that's not true Elena."

"But Andie said-"

"Don't listen to a word that jealous idiot says! You make Damon happy and Damon makes you happy. End of story. Loving each other and being together does not cause you pain, it makes you both a thousand times happier than when you're not together." Caroline wasn't going to lie to her friend. Yes Damon got on her nerves but he was good to Elena and good for Elena and that was all that truly mattered.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! I've had to watch you two make kissy faces at each other with your goo goo eyes for three years now. You're in love."

"Wait, we have the same faces that you and Matt are always wearing?" Elena joked.

She rolled her eyes. "You have to tell Damon everything that has been happening though," she said sternly.

"It's fine. It's sorted. He doesn't need to know anything."

"Elena," she repeated in her stern voice.

"What if he doesn't believe me?"

"Why the hell would you think that?

"Andie said-"

"Oh my God Elena, what did I just say? Don't listen to her! If Damon chooses her side over yours then yes you guys do have some problems in your relationship, but I'm pretty certain that isn't going to happen. Just tell him everything that's been happening with Stefan and Andie. Unload on him, the same way you have with me."

"Okay," Elena nodded. Her friend was right. She had to face everything she had been trying to sort out by herself and it started with getting Damon on her side to help her. She needed his support. She couldn't do it by herself.

"I'm glad you talked to me honey," Caroline said pulling Elena in for another hug. "Don't listen to a word Andie says. She wants to cause you and Damon relationship problems but be the smart girl I know that you are and don't fall for her tricks."

The pulled away from their hug and for the first time since she had entered the house, Elena smiled, a genuine, big smile. She felt so relieved having talked with Caroline and she suddenly felt so stupid for letting things of no importance get to her and for waiting so long to tell someone about all the incidents that had been piling up.

"Thanks for listening to me Care. I know I'm a mess and a burden but I really appreciate you being here."

"Stop talking nonsense Elena! You're my friend and friends support each other until the end of the world. I'm always here for you. Now I don't know about you but I could really use another cup of coffee right now! Would you like one?"

Elena nodded. She was exhausted after their intense talk but she needed to get her energy levels up again if she was to go home and have a just as intense, if not more intense discussion with Damon.

Caroline picked up Elena's mug and held it in one hand, her own mug in the other as she made her way back into the kitchen. Elena remained alone in Caroline's room. She was left alone to her thoughts. There was still one thing she hadn't discussed with Caroline: her inability to tell Damon she loved him. From talking about her other issues she had figured out why she hadn't told him of her feelings.

Telling Damon she loved him meant that everything she had ever known would change completely. She wanted to be a hundred percent certain before she told him because he deserved nothing less. Add to that, the fear planted by Andie that her love for Damon was poisonous to him. She never wanted that to be true. If she had learnt anything from observing this Damon that was married to her, it was that he deserved every good thing in the world and that he should never go through anymore heartbreak.

She stared at the mirror that lay before her. She stared at herself; taking in everything about her image. It amazed her a little that she was able to make someone like Damon fall for her. Damon was gorgeous, smouldering, funny and supportive but he was also hot-headed, cruel and stubborn like her. Still she didn't understand how she was enough to captivate him the same way he captivated her.

Taking a deep breath she looked at her reflection, imagining Damon was there with her. She took another deep breath before speaking, "I – I love you." '_See it's not that hard to say!' _"I love you," she repeated.

"I love you," she said freely and easily with a smile on her face.

"Okay. I knew you were weird but I didn't know you were this weird. Are you really saying you love yourself whilst standing in front of a mirror?" Caroline called from her bedroom threshold, thoroughly amused by her friend's weird behaviour.

Elena jumped hearing Caroline's voice. She hadn't heard her making her way back to the room. She felt like a deer caught in the headlights but she didn't have time to explain as she rushed past her friend.

She called out, "Sorry for wasting your time making me coffee but I have somewhere I have to be!" She ran out of Caroline's quaint house and down her road, making her way to her destination: home, where Damon was. She had realised that not only did she need to tell Damon everything that had been going on; she needed to tell him that she loved him, with all her heart.

* * *

Damon had stopped by the Grill before going home. He needed a drink to calm himself down. Overanalysing everything about Elena had given him a headache. Unsurprisingly, he found Ric there waiting for him with a glass of bourbon placed on the bar table in front of where Damon's seat was. They had a quick chat. It seemed Alaric had joined Jenna on the 'let's have a baby' bandwagon after all. He had stayed in the Grill for almost an hour before he tiredly made his way home.

It was time to see bunny boy and bitchy witch again. He felt a tiny bit bad about how little time he had spent with his brother since Elena's accident but all he could ever focus on these days was Elena. He'd have to make it up to him at some point. He had texted his brother to let him know he was only about five minutes away from home.

* * *

Bonnie walked through the door of the Boarding House, having finally finished all her college lessons for the day. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was flop onto her bed and go straight to sleep. She walked down the corridor and called out for Stefan but he didn't seem to be at home.

She lazily plodded up the stairs and made her way into the room she shared with her boyfriend. She jumped out of her skin however when she entered the room and came face to face with him. Stefan had been waiting for her.

"Whoa you scared me! What's up?" she enquired, concern lacing her voice. He didn't say anything; his eyes were unfocused. "Stefan?" she called out waving her hands in front of his face to bring him back to reality.

"We need to talk Bonnie."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You're scaring me Stefan. Those words never signal anything good."

Stefan didn't respond but she could see it in his eyes. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"I've been lying to you. I've been keeping secrets," he said slowly. Tears pricked her eyes. He was going to break up with her wasn't he?

"What is it?" she asked hating the build-up. If he was going to do it could he just do it right away?

"It didn't mean anything, at least not on my side. It was just a total misunderstanding."

"What are you talking about Stefan?" Frustration was getting the best of her.

"It's Elena." She hadn't expected that to come from his mouth. What did Elena have to do with anything?

"Elena?"

"I lied when I said our trip to Georgia went smoothly and that it was uneventful," he explained.

"What are you trying to tell me Stefan?" she asked, not sure she really wanted to hear the answer.

"When we went to Georgia, Elena, she…she-"

"She what, Stefan?" Bonnie pushed, her patience wearing thin.

"She kissed me."

"She did what?" Bonnie asked in disbelief. Her friend would not do that to her… would she?

"She kissed me and told me she still loved me and-"

"Don't lie to me Stefan." Tears started to stream down her face.

"I'm not lying. She said that after the accident she was confused because all her feelings for me had returned and she didn't know to handle it and then she pounced me."

"So Elena kissed you," Bonnie repeated slowly trying to get her head around it. It all felt surreal. Not once in a million years would she have thought her childhood friend would do such a thing. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been worried straight after the discovery of Elena's amnesia about whether or not Elena would be able to deal with the fact that the boyfriend she remembered having was now her friend's boyfriend. But those worries dissipated pretty quickly when she saw Elena bonding with Damon again.

"Elena kissed me," Stefan confirmed. "And she-" He never got to finish his sentence and spin more lies as Damon accidentally made his presence known from behind them as he lost his grip on the luggage he had been carrying. Despair and disbelief laced his face.

"Damon!" Bonnie said her eyes widening. She used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

He didn't say anything. He just stared at Stefan. He was frozen on his spot, processing and trying to understand what he had overheard.

"Damon," Stefan called out tentatively.

Hearing Stefan say his name was enough to snap Damon out of his thoughts. He looked from Stefan to Bonnie and then back to Stefan before he used his vampire speed to disappear out the house, jump into his car and drive as far away from Mystic Falls, and more importantly, Elena, as possible.

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A/N I'm evil for leaving it there aren't I? Well sadly, it's highly likely you're going to be stuck with this ending for about a month. I have two solid weeks of exams coming up and then I'm going on holiday to Cyprus with some of my friends and will not be back until July. I'm sorry about the wait but I hope you guys can hang on; we're in for a rollercoaster when it comes to the rest of this story.

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LJ: miss_asha_s


	25. Chapter 25

A/N So apparently I lied at the end of the last chapter because I'm back with another chapter! I found some time here and there and the words just really flowed out for this chapter. So no more crying about that last cliffhanger!

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Elena was panting heavily by the time she finally reached the Salvatore Boarding House. She really needed to start going to a gym or something. She may hate running but she had to get fit. It took her way too long to get from Caroline's place to back home.

She took a quick breather before she opened the front door.

"Damon!" she called out as soon as she was through the door. He didn't respond so she made her way upstairs to see if he was in their room.

She walked into their room to find that he wasn't there. She frowned. _'Where the hell is he?' _She walked down the corridor when she caught a glimpse of Bonnie's hair in the room she shared with Stefan.

"Hey Bonnie, have you seen Damon?" she asked in a rush, as her eyes darted around looking for him. When she didn't get a reply her focus went back to her friend. "Bonnie?" she said tentatively.

It was only then that she realised her friend was sobbing. It didn't take her long to run to Bonnie and pull her into a hug.

"Oh Bonnie, what happened? Are you hurt?" she asked, pulling herself away and scanning Bonnie's face and body to make sure she wasn't physically injured. Bonnie didn't say a word, but tears continued to streak down her face.

Understanding hit Elena at that very moment. This was about Stefan. Stefan had broken up with her and now she was in despair. She pulled her friend back into a warm hug, wanting to comfort her in her moment of sadness.

"Oh sweetie. Did Stefan break up with you? It's for the best Bonnie."

Bonnie snapped as soon as she heard what Elena had to say. She pushed Elena away from her and just looked at her. Was she serious? Was this really her friend?

"Are you serious?" Bonnie asked, voicing her thoughts.

"I know it might not seem like it right now Bonnie but it really is the best thing."

"Stefan didn't break up with me," Bonnie said stoically.

"Oh," Elena responded. She had put her foot in her mouth and had assumed that was why she was crying. How the hell was she supposed to salvage this situation? "Why are you crying then?"

"I'm crying because the friendship with my closest friend since kindergarten is gone."

Elena froze. What was she talking about?

"I don't understand."

"Funny that, because I don't understand why you kissed my boyfriend."

Elena was caught completely off-guard. She hadn't been expecting that.

She gulped. This was bad. This was very bad. What the hell had Stefan told her? And where the hell was he?

"I never kissed Stefan."

"Elena, you haven't ever lied to me the whole time I've known you. Don't start now."

"Exactly! I've never lied to you before! I'm not a liar. But Stefan, he lied to me so many times when I was with him. He lied about Katherine and the fact that I'm her doppelganger and he even lied about being a god-damn vampire to me. Why can't you believe that he lied now?"

Some of Bonnie's resolve was chipped away; Elena could see it. "What reason does he have to lie? Elena, tell me what happened," she whimpered as more tears ran down her face, blurring her vision.

Elena swallowed. She really hadn't wanted to be the one to reveal the events that had unfolded but she was left with no choice. Stefan hadn't stepped up to the plate. He had just spread lies.

"Stefan and I went to that musical in Georgia and things were going great until the ride back home. He stopped the car and started walking away, so naturally I followed him. He started talking about his inability to fight it and I got scared thinking he was talking about his bloodlust and then he just kissed me. I tried to push him away but he kept forcing himself on me." She took a deep breath, her eyes refusing to look at Bonnie. She was scared to see how much she was hurting her friend and she was scared that her friend wouldn't believe her. "I finally got him off me and then he goes ahead and says he loves me and that he knows I love him too. It is a complete lie though because… because I love Damon. He said ever since my accident I remind him of the Elena I was when I was with him. It was probably my fault to start with because I was still infatuated by him when I got out of the hospital."

"It's not your fault," Bonnie said firmly. Elena's eyes shot to her friend. She was no longer crying. She was using the sleeves to wipe away the tears that were stained on her face. She had a determined look on her face; she was beyond angry.

It was at that precise moment Stefan returned to the room from his shower, fully-clothed. His eyes doubled in size when he noticed Elena in the room. He looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. His lies had caught up to him and he was screwed now.

"Elena, what a surprise. I wasn't-" He never got the chance to finish his sentence as Elena strode right up to him and slapped him as hard as she could. The sound of the slap resounded around the Boarding House like an echo.

"Don't act like a fool. The least you could do is grow a pair and own up to your actions," Elena hissed at him.

"Move out the way, Elena," Bonnie said. The tone of her voice gave nothing away. Elena did as her friend requested. "Is it true Stefan?"

"Is what true?" he asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb."

"I'm not-" Once again his sentence was interrupted but this time he wasn't being slapped. No, this time he had an aneurysm and it was positively painful. He held his hand against his head as he bent over and cried out in pain.

Suddenly the pain was gone and he couldn't be more relieved. "Now let's try this again shall we? What really happened that night?"

"Bonnie, I told you the truth, I – aaaahhh!" Another aneurysm went off in his brain.

Elena stood back, watching the scene. Fear gripped her. She was worried Bonnie might takes things too far.

"So Stefan, baby," she said sarcastically. "Do you feel like telling me what really happened now?"

"I kissed Elena," he whispered painfully.

Just like that, the hard, tough Bonnie disappeared as she fell to the ground and cried. Elena quickly fell to the ground as well and hugged her friend tightly. She felt so bad.

"I'm sorry Bonnie," he whispered.

Bonnie's head shot up. "You do not get to be sorry," she snarled. "You just- you just do not get to be sorry. What the hell is wrong with you? What was lacking in our relationship?"

Stefan didn't say anything and Elena began to feel awkward being in the room. This was personal; it should be private.

"I made a mistake."

"A mistake? Is that what you're going to call it so that I'll forgive you and take you back. I want a real answer. Why Stefan, why?" she asked, getting up from the floor and stalking up to him.

Elena felt like this was her queue to leave but stopped in her tracks when she heard Stefan speak again.

"I fell off the wagon," he whispered. "I've been drinking as much human blood as possible so that I don't hurt you and Elena but fighting the bloodlust around you both means that other parts of me come out. I'm a monster."

Elena turned to face him. She was shocked. He was drinking human blood and this was what that made him? How comes it didn't do the same for Damon?

Bonnie stepped away from Stefan, her eyes wide in disbelief. When had this happened? How had this happened? How had she not noticed? There were too many questions.

"Why didn't you just tell us Stefan?" Bonnie asked. Her voice was laced with sadness. "We could've helped you. Instead, you kept it a secret and decided that what, telling lies and going around kissing my friends would be better?"

"I can't control it Bonnie. Just now I left the room to go have a shower but what I was really doing was rummaging through the blood bags I had hidden in the bathroom. How was I supposed to tell you? Was I just supposed to go up to you and say 'hey, guess what? I'm drinking human blood again and it's making me crazy.' How well that would've gone down."

"I just don't get why you went after Elena."

Stefan's eyes shifted towards Elena who had remained uncharacteristically quiet the whole time.

"My feelings get confused when the bloodlust settles in. I don't know what's right and what's wrong anymore and I can't stop myself from just wanting everything and anything, including Elena."

"But how could you do that to Damon, your own brother?"

"He did it to me first." There was resentment laced in his words.

"Are you serious?" Elena finally spoke up. "You thought you'd just say you loved me to get back at Damon falling in love with me almost four years ago? That is seriously a new low Stefan."

"I can't help it!"

"Yes you can! Don't pretend to be the victim Stefan. If all other vampires can learn to control what they become when they consume human blood, so can you. Look at Damon," Elena argued angrily.

"Well it's not like I'm going to be able to look at Damon anytime soon," Stefan bit back. He didn't like the way that Elena was insinuating that Damon was better than him. He hated having his lack of control being compared to his brother's. If anything, he was jealous of Damon's ability to be himself and not a monster when he was drinking blood.

Elena froze. "What?" She glanced at Bonnie who was looking at the ground shamefully. "What does that mean?" Again, no-one answered her question. Elena looked at Bonnie again. "Bonnie, where's Damon?" Silence. "Where is he?" she shouted.

"He overheard Stefan's lie that you kissed him."

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Elena muttered in despair. This was not happening. Damn it, she should have told him. She was just about to tell him. She was too late. She was too late and now she was in deep shit. "Where is he?" she asked, dread settling inside her.

"I don't know. He just left before we could say anything. He got in his car and he just drove away."

"He just left?" she asked sadly. Bonnie nodded in confirmation.

He hadn't waited to hear her side of it? That hurt, that really hurt.

She didn't stick around to listen to anymore. She didn't need to hear anymore from Stefan. In fact, if she listened to another lie coming out of his mouth she'd beg Bonnie to give him a permanent aneurysm. She had already wasted so much time listening to him. She legged it out of the Boarding House and got into her own car. How had she not noticed that Damon's car was missing as soon as she got back home?

She rested her head against the steering wheel as she tried to think straight. She had too many thoughts, too many emotions running through her. Where the hell would Damon have run to? She had no idea; all she knew was that she had to find him.

She put the key in the ignition and started up her car. She'd go to The Grill first and if he wasn't there she'd think of another place to go. She just prayed she wasn't too late; that Damon wouldn't do something brash and impetuous, that he would soon regret.

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight. Elena got into a car accident and now she suffers from amnesia so she doesn't remember marrying you. In fact, she doesn't even remember breaking up with Stefan. But you've slowly been trying to make her fall in love with you again and you even went to New York, but then she had memories of you and your ex-girlfriend and freaked out a bit. Oh and she doesn't like your friend, Mandy was it?"

"Andie," Damon corrected.

"Right. So you come home and you overhear Stefan telling his girlfriend that Elena kissed him and then you barged right out of there."

"Yep," Damon confirmed as he drunkenly poured himself some more bourbon, half of which ended up on the table rather than in his glass.

"Why are you so sure Stefan is telling the truth? Did you hear what Elena had to say?"

Damon's eyebrows furrowed. "Why would he lie?"

"I don't know, he's your brother. Does he still have feelings for her?"

"Stefan? No way." His voice gave away how he wasn't entirely confident in his answer.

"Well did you hear what she had to say?" Bree asked as she dried the glasses with a washcloth.

"What, so she can talk her way out of it?" he scoffed before gulping down his drink.

"Damon, she deserves to give her side of the story. Remember, there are three sides to the story: his side, her side and the truth."

"How can I find out the truth without compelling her?"

"Well you're gonna have to figure that part out by yourself but first you need to hear her side."

Damon swirled the bourbon in his glass around, contemplating whether he had reacted too hastily.

"Why are you so quick to believe Elena would do such a thing?"

Damon stared at his drink not saying anything. For a second, Bree wondered if he had even heard her. "The love I have for her… her love for me; it consumes me. It blinds me. I saw the way she looked at Stefan after her accident, but my faith in us, in our relationship made me blow it off. I was blinded by how strong my love for her was and I didn't think that maybe she'd want Stefan. She's told me that she loves Stefan but not once has she said she loves me. I know it's too early to expect something like that but I can't help myself. I can't stop hoping -my fault really. I mean, if she's kissing me when she doesn't love me, of course she'll be kissing Stefan because she does love him."

Bree's eyes softened in sadness. She felt bad for her favourite vampire. He and Elena had been visiting her bar frequently over the past few years. She had seen just how crazy in love with each other they were, how consumed they were by each other and how inseparable they had been from each other. To have it all snatched away so suddenly was sad to see - just plain sad.

He needed to drink more. His words weren't even slurring anymore. Damn his stupid vampire body for recovering from alcohol too quickly. He went to pour himself some more bourbon when he realised the bottle was no longer next to him, where he had placed it. Weird.

He was about to open his mouth and ask for more from Bree when he noticed her giving him a stern look.

"No more alcohol for you."

"What?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was she really taking his bourbon?

"You should go home."

"Why is all the bourbon gone?" Bree had to keep in her laugh at how similar Damon sounded to Captain Jack Sparrow and his rum.

"Damon, you and I both know that you know that alcohol does nothing for the pain. You're in denial if you think it soothes it in any way."

Bree walked away and Damon turned to stare at the door. Should he go back? He wasn't ready to hear how Elena still loved Stefan though. Just the thought of it, brought great pain to his heart.

He was torn. Should he go back to Mystic Falls? Or should he jump behind the bar, grab some bourbon and continue to wallow in his misery?

He stared at the entrance to the bar, willing it to give him an answer. To his absolute surprise, it did. It looked like he was staying.

Andie walked into the bar. Her eyes landed on Damon immediately, and lit up. She smiled broadly when he waved her over to join him.

* * *

A/N Is this ending more suitable? Yes? No?

I think a few of you figured out Andie might make a reappearance right about now. Now question is, is she up to no good? Who am I kidding; she's always up to no good.

Now I'm not going to say how long it'll take me to update because I honestly didn't think I'd find the time to do this chapter, so I'm just going to say, don't expect an update anytime soon.

Twitter: CosmicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	26. Chapter 26

A/N Just thought I'd remind everyone that Elena has all her memories up until 1x14 (when they find that Katherine isn't in the tomb). So she does remember her road trip to Georgia with Damon.

* * *

Elena sat with her head on the bar table at The Grill. She had officially given up on her search for Damon. He was absolutely nowhere to be found. It had been well over an hour since she had stormed out of the Boarding House. She had checked practically every inch of Mystic Falls in order to find Damon but it was all to no avail.

She had checked The Grill first, then Ric's place, then Tyler's place and even Matt's place. She then went to the cemetery in the hopes that he might just randomly be there. After walking around the whole of Mystic Falls she just ended up back in The Grill, hoping that maybe she had just missed him the first time but no, he wasn't here.

She lifted her head and rubbed her face, trying to get over her fatigue, before resting it on the table again. She closed her eyes tightly. Where the hell could he have gone?

"_I love it when you're drunk!" A smile curved Damon's lips. _

_Elena giggled. "I'm not drunk."_

"_The fact that you're attempting to play pool whilst holding the cue the wrong way round would suggest differently."_

"_Oops," Elena giggled. She dropped her cue down on the floor, not caring where it landed, and stumbled up to her boyfriend. _

"_You're beautiful," he said out of the blue._

"_Where did that come from?" Her lips immediately curved into a smile as a blush worked its way across her cheeks. That was always her response to a compliment from him._

"_I just realised I hadn't said it today but I should tell you it every day because it's true." His voice was so sincere it made her heart flutter._

"_Why do you have to say such sweet things when I'm drunk and unlikely to remember them?"_

"_Aha!" he pointed his fingers at her. "So you admit you're drunk!"_

"_No I don't!" She argued uselessly._

"_Err well you're the one who said you were. I quote 'why do you have to say such nice things when I'm drunk?'" He said it in a high-pitch girly voice just for effect._

"_I do not sound like that!" She playfully smacked his arm._

_He rolled his eyes. "Believe what you must."_

"_I want to tell you something now," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leant into him. _

_Damon's left eyebrow rose warily. "Is that so?"_

_She rose onto her tiptoes and whispered, a little too loudly, into his ear, "You're the sexiest vampire I know!" She giggled and Damon's insides just became jelly. How was she always so damn cute?_

_He didn't show her just how much her presence affected him; instead, he rolled his eyes at her silly confession. "Elena, you know like five vampires and let's face it, it isn't hard for me to be sexier than all of them."_

_Elena pouted. "You're sexier than Edward Cullen."_

"_Oh dear God," he groaned. "Please don't talk about Twilight. He isn't even real."_

"_I wish you would go all shiny in the sunlight."_

"_Do I really have to listen to this? You seriously don't want a glittery boyfriend."_

"_You're right; you don't need to sparkle to be sexy," she decided as she stroked his cheek lightly with the pad of her thumb. _

"_Sparkling in the sun does not equate to sexy anyway," he pointed out._

_Elena pulled her head back and made an expression that showed she was thinking hard- well as hard as her drunken brain would let her._

"_You're sexier than Spike as well."_

"_We've moved onto fake vampires in television shows now?"_

"_Why won't you just accept that you're sexy?" Elena said much too loudly, gathering the interest of other people in the bar._

"_I'm not arguing that I'm not sexy. I am most definitely very sexy," Damon said wiggling his eyebrows as if to make a point. _

"_I'm sexy too," she decided, as she stroke a pose._

_Damon chuckled. "Yes you are." He captured her lips with his own and gently pushed her backwards so that she was against the pool table. Without breaking lip contact he lifted her up so she was sitting on the table. Her legs immediately lifted and wrapped around his waist, as her hands buried themselves in his jet black hair, tugging him as close as possible. _

_His right hand brushed up her legs, which were clad in high-waisted skinny jeans; excitement built up in her the higher up his hand went. His left hand had taken up refuge underneath her layered lace tank top and pressed softly against her toned stomach._

_Someone's persistent coughing behind them caused them to break apart. _

_Damon was about to bite off the head of the person who dared to interrupt them but when he saw who it was, his mouth clamped shut._

"_Seriously guys, no sex on the pool table," Bree said sternly._

"_Talk about ruining all the fun," Damon responded._

"_You're mean," Elena said. Clearly her drunken state didn't allow time for her to think before she spoke._

_Bree rolled her eyes. "And you young lady are underage and drunk at my pub so I'd zip it if I were you."_

_Damon sniggered at Elena's expression. She looked like she had just been slapped across the face. What with her parents dead, she probably wasn't used to adults showing their authority; it wasn't like Jenna was big on rules._

_Bree couldn't help but laugh at Elena's speechlessness. "I know you guys are still in the honeymoon period of your relationship but I'm pretty sure if any of those girls," she pointed to a bunch of gawking twenty year olds, "have to see Damon making out with you for any longer, they might just come over here to scratch your eyes out." With those words she departed them to go back to her place behind the bar._

_Elena's face leant close to Damon's ear as she whispered, "I know I said you were the sexiest vampire I know, but I take it back. You're the sexiest living thing ever. It's a shame those girls over there will never know what it's like to kiss you, because you, sexy vampire, are mine."_

Georgia. Altanta. Bree's Bar. That was where he was.

She speedily ran out of The Grill, suddenly revitalised and full of energy. She jumped into her car and quickly fiddled with the navigation system in it. She silently thanked the Lord that Bree's Bar was already listed in her 'favourite places'. She had never been so happy for an impromptu memory.

She pulled her seatbelt across her body and buckled herself in as she pulled out of the Grill's car park. She had a long trip to Georgia to make and she just prayed she'd get there before nightfall.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

"I had to report on an issue here, some kind of animal attacks or something, and I remembered how you recommended this place. I can't believe you're here though!" Andie exclaimed as Damon pulled her in close for a hug.

As they separated, Andie ordered herself a martini and Damon glared at Bree and demanded that she give him back his bourbon. Bree gave him a disappointed look before she gave in and moved onto her other customers.

"So what brings you out here? And without Elena might I add," Andie asked curiously.

Damon sighed. He'd already been through it with Bree and he honestly wasn't in the mood to relive it again. He just wanted to get drunk and forget all about his wife for a little while.

"Elena kissed Stefan," he said mechanically.

"What?" Andie asked, genuinely surprised. So she hadn't been wrong about Elena. That revelation made her feel a lot better about the fact that she wanted Damon for herself. "How did you find out?"

"Stefan told Bonnie about it and I overheard," he answered emotionlessly.

"And how do you feel about that?" she prodded.

Damon's head immediately turned to face her as he snapped, "How do you think I feel about it?"

Andie looked surprised by his aggressiveness but he couldn't bring himself to care one bit.

"Can we just not talk about how I feel? Distract me."

Andie's lips curved upwards. She could definitely distract him.

"So I totally caught this teenage couple having sex in an elevator today and it got me thinking how badly I wanna do it one time. Although, I obviously don't wanna get caught," she said sipping her beverage.

"Getting caught is part of the fun," Damon argued. "Wait, you've never had sex in an elevator?" he asked, thoroughly appalled.

"Nope," she answered honestly.

"You've been deprived."

"You sound like you've had a lot of experience in the elevator."

"Oh yeah," Damon chuckled.

"With Elena?" Andie asked jealously.

A scowl painted his face. "Can we make a pact to not mention Elena again this evening?"

His words made her jealousy disappear into thin air. It was a line she was sure he'd said in one of her dreams. "Sounds good to me."

"So I dumped Nick," Andie announced as she swirled her drink in her hands.

Damon's eyebrows creased. "Why?"

"Sex wasn't good enough."

Damon chuckled. "Sex is never gonna be good enough after you've had me!" he cockily added.

It was now Andie's turn to let a laugh escape. "I'm so blowing your trumpet right now because I'm not even going to argue."

"You clearly want to be blowing something else though."

Andie's eyes widened at his vulgarity. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"I can't believe you're shocked that I would say it. I thought you knew me well. I am the eternal stud; got to keep my flirting on point."

Andie's gaze dug into him. "Is that what you're doing here? Flirting?"

"So to speak." He shrugged. "So, are you looking to date another loser?"

Andie smiled. "Actually, I was thinking of doing things differently this time."

"Really? How so?" His interest was piqued.

"Well actually there's this guy I've liked for a while and I've just never had the balls to ask him out," she said quietly.

"Whoa! Miss Confidence-Embodied is scared of some pathetic man? Call the police!"

"Haha," Andie bit out sarcastically. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything."

"Seriously though, what is stopping you?"

She sighed as she fidgeted with the hem of her A-line skirt. She looked down at the table, unable to meet his gaze. "He's with someone. He's with someone who doesn't deserve him, who doesn't love him the way he ought to be loved; the way I love him." When she heard no reply from Damon she took a quick glance at him to see he was pensive in thought.

He finally looked her. "I didn't know that you'd fallen in love with someone. I've been so wrapped up in my personal drama that I didn't even notice." He took a deep breath. "If you really love him and think you're the one for him then go for it. Tell him. Maybe he feels the same way about you."

Before he knew what was happening Andie's face was inches away from his. Her lips were moving up to meet his. He jerked backwards, almost falling off his chair.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She froze. "N-nothing," Andie stuttered. She shouldn't have listened to him.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You tried to kiss me. Why the hell would you do that?" He tried to keep his exploding feelings inside. Oh God, had Elena been right about Andie?

"You were flirting with me," she said. She prayed to God he wouldn't figure out that she had been talking about him. That would just make everything worse.

"It was innocent flirting Andie. I'm married!" He was truly shocked by what was happening. "I'm not going to cheat on my wife because I'm frustrated with her. I'm not going to get back at her by having sex with you."

"I don't want sex!" She argued. Her eyes widened; she had said too much.

"Well then what is it that you want Andie? Because I'm really lost here."

Her silence was revealing. This was worse than what he had thought. If it had just been meaningless sex like they had had before it would've been one thing but from the looks of things Andie wanted more, a lot more. This was bad. Oh God, realisation dawned. Was he the guy?

"I'm the guy aren't I?" He didn't need for her to answer to know the truth. He gulped; this wasn't happening. "Andie…" He didn't know what to say. She was in love with him? When did that happen? He felt bad for her because nothing would ever happen between them. Elena was it for him. "It's always going to be Elena." He felt bad for using the line that Elena had used on him. The difference was that it was really true this time. "I know you seem to think that Elena doesn't treat me right but that's only as of late. It doesn't make a difference though. I don't care how you feel about me or even Elena for that matter. We're never going to be together. You can say all you want about or to Elena but the truth remains."

Andie's heart shattered. She shouldn't have done anything. It was almost better to have an unrequited love with him, than to be so harshly rejected. But why had he mentioned talking to Elena? That girl had opened her trap hadn't she? "She told you what I said to her, didn't she?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "You spoke to Elena?"

Andie's eyes widened. She realised she had just dug herself further into a hole. "No, it was nothing. I'm talking rubbish. These drinks are starting to get to me." She laughed nervously.

"What did you say to her?" Damon wasn't buying Andie's innocent act.

"Nothing, Damon. Stop worrying. I was thinking about someone else." Her excuses weren't adding up anymore.

Damon had taken enough shit in one day and he wasn't about to take anymore.

He locked his gaze with Andie's. His eyes dilated as he opened his mouth to speak. "Tell me word for word exactly what you said to Elena," he compelled.

Andie's eyes widened in horror. She hadn't ingested vervain in a while. Her mouth started running without her permission. "I told her that she was the cause of all your pain and that her love for you was toxic. I let her know that I was always around the corner to comfort you, when she would inevitably hurt you again. I said that I wished it had taken her longer to wake up from the coma."

"Son of a bitch!" Damon cursed.

He looked away from her. He couldn't stand to look at her for another second. This was the woman he had defended time and time again saying that she was a friend? He was seething. Anger was coursing through his veins. How quickly things had turned; one minute he had felt sorry for her and now all he wanted to do was throttle her. Going after Elena… bad move.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted at her, finally turning to look at her again.

"I wasn't. I-"

"Damn right, you weren't!"

"I'm sorry! I just cracked! I've been waiting for over three years for you to notice that I'm here for you."

"I thought you were here for me as a friend. I didn't think you were here to poison Elena's mind."

Andie's mood suddenly changed. She was done apologising. "Was I wrong though Damon? Because it looks to me like Elena hurt you _again_ and I'm the one who's here comforting you like I predicted."

Damon scowled. "I tell you about my relationship with Elena in confidence, not so you can pass judgement and use it against me."

"I know. But it's hard for me to listen about her hurting you when I love you!"

He froze. He had known from her words about her feelings but to hear her say them as clear as day was a whole other thing. It didn't sound right to hear those three special words come out of anyone else's mouth. They were Elena's words for him.

"That doesn't mean you have the right to go after Elena. She's been through a lot as it is!"

"How can you keep defending her?" Andie asked. Her eyes were digging into him; she couldn't understand him.

"Because I love her. I will always love her." He saw Andie recoil at his words. He was harsh to spell it out so clearly, but it had to be done. "I want you to listen carefully to me Andie. You're going to leave town for a while and you're going to stay the hell away from me and Elena, until you realise how incomprehensibly badly you've been behaving lately. Once you're done acting like a fool, maybe I'll be willing to give you another chance. Until then, I don't want to see you or hear you or anything. Understand?"

"Are you compelling me?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"No. I'm strongly advising you." His eyes were flashing and she understood that he wasn't 'advising her', he was telling her.

She nodded her head slowly in defeat and took her cue to leave, but not without one last glance at him. How could she have made the mistake of falling in love with him? She knew she never stood a chance against Elena and yet she had still hoped.

After Andie had left Bree had come back to convince him to leave but he just barked at her as he made a show of continuing to drink. She backed off; she realised now was not that time to annoy him.

He smashed his glass of bourbon down against the bar table; he was over being upset. He was downright pissed now. Why did everyone have to let him down and all at the same time? He needed to find release and he needed to get it quickly. He couldn't keep it under control anymore. These emotions were too much. How was this day still not over?

His eyes scanned the bar to find a suitable girl. His eyes zeroed in on a red-head. She'd do. It had been too long since he had last done this to anyone other than Elena. He needed to bite this girl. In fact, he needed to kill her; he was itching to snap her neck. It was the only way to deal.

He hadn't even taken two steps before his pathway was intercepted. Elena was standing right in front of him, all straight brown hair and doe eyes. He hadn't been expecting to see her just yet and he was taken aback. He wasn't ready to deal with her.

All of sudden his thirst for blood and death disappeared. But it was always like that with Elena. Whenever she was around everything else just seemed to come to a standstill. His focus was solely on her. No matter what he did, it never changed. She consumed him.

"Damon." That was all she said. That was all she needed to say to get him to listen.

"Elena," he responded, mirroring her tone.

She had to know that he knew, right? But she wasn't apologising profusely for what she had done. How had she found him anyway? He knew she remembered them coming to the bar together to the first time but he really hadn't thought that she'd think he'd be here.

"I'm sorry for not listening to you about Andie. You were right. She's one hell of a conniving woman. She really had me fooled. I just, I can't believe what she said to you," he apologised.

Elena smiled sadly. "It's okay. At least you know now."

Damon frowned. He wasn't happy with her immediate forgiveness and short reply. Didn't she want to yell at him or rub it in his face? Then again, maybe she was filled with guilt over what she had done.

"I wish you had told me what she had said though. Just like I wish you had told me about kissing Stefan." There he had said it. It was out in the open. There would be no beating around the bush. He needed answers; even if they weren't the ones he wanted.

"I'm sorry."

Her words felt like a stake to the heart. There was no denying it anymore; it was true. Was that seriously all she had to say though? She was sorry? Big whoop. That meant nothing to him – at least not right now; not whilst his heart was shattering into millions of tiny shards and being thrown around like confetti.

Although it was just one kiss, it felt like the practically perfect life he had been living with Elena pre-amnesia was really gone. It was like the last nail in the coffin for what they once had; what he had hoped they would once again have.

"Is that really all you have to say about it?" He couldn't disguise the hurt in his voice. Around Elena, his emotions just always poured out.

"It was a mistake Damon. Things just got really out of hand. One minute we were talking and then we were kissing. I swear it was a mistake Damon and it won't ever happen again," she said sincerely.

"How am I supposed to believe you Elena? That one mistake, as you say it was, has broken all the trust between us. I know you remember the day I told you not to make me regret trusting you, well congratulations Elena, you've succeeded at making me regret exactly that." His anger was rising and he couldn't control it. It felt like everything in their marriage was ruined. How were they supposed to work things out when she had kissed his brother?

"I'm sorry Damon."

"You keep saying that but I don't know what to do with it!" he snapped, at the end of his tether. He noticed the way her eyes widened and he immediately tried to calm himself down. "Elena, I think I need some space. I need to be alone. I need to get my head clear and I can't do any of this with you around."

"Don't say that Damon," she begged. "Just please forgive me, and then we can move past all of this. Things will be good again."

"That's just the problem though, isn't it Elena? I don't know if I'm going to be able to forgive you."

He couldn't believe he had said it. It was final. There was a possibility that he and Elena wouldn't make it. Had someone told him not even two months ago that he and Elena could be on the verge of separating he would have laughed long and hard, but here they were.

"Don't say that Damon. I love you!"

He froze.

"What?" Had she really just said that? Why was everyone choosing today to confess their love?

Her eyes flashed, like she had found the key to a locked treasure chest. "I love you."

With those three words, she pounced on him. Her lips attached to his in a hard, rushed kiss. He wasn't responding. His mind was worlds away. There was no way he could process the information she had just revealed, let alone lose himself in her kiss.

* * *

Elena parked her car just outside the bar. She didn't know what she'd do if she found out that she'd driven all this way for no point. Damon had to be at the bar. He just had to be.

During the long ride over she had gone over everything she wanted to tell Damon. She had made the perfect speech in her head and she prayed to God that she wouldn't forget it when she laid eyes on him.

She jumped out of her car and briskly walked towards the bar. From the outside, it looked just like it had four years ago. A fleeting thought of whether inside would also look the same passed through her mind but she dismissed it; she needed to focus on making things right again between her and Damon.

She pushed open the entrance door and quickly scanned the bar. Her eyes immediately found Bree, who was chatting to some lads – maybe even flirting with them. Her eyes continued to dart around the room, praying that Damon was indeed here.

She found him and she froze. In a split second she was feeling so many different emotions, all at the same time – none of which were good ones. She wanted to tear her eyes away but found that it was impossible. Damon was standing right in the middle of the room, kissing her doppelganger, her ancestor, Katherine.

It seemed he didn't really need her after all. He could have Katherine again and she would be expendable. Her supposed betrayal had driven him back into Katherine's arms. This was more than just a stupid mistake, he had done it knowingly.

Not wanting to cause a scene or draw his attention she exited the same way she had come in. Her legs were shaking, but she forced herself to walk back to her car. Once she was inside the safety of her vehicle, the floodgates opened, and out poured the endless tears.

* * *

A/N You were all worried about Andie, but it turns out Katherine is even more conniving! In case you got confused, Katherine was pretending to be Elena in Bree's Bar. Just a little reminder that in chapter 19 we found out that Damon never informed Elena of what Katherine had been up to after they discovered that she was in the tomb. Oh and the 1x22 kiss between Damon & Katherine never happened.

I know a lot of you wanted Andie to get hit by a bus but the way I see it, surely being cut out of Damon's life is worse? A little convenient, that Elena had that memory but I figured the girl needed some help. She was doing an awful job at finding him.

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LiveJournal: miss_asha_s  
Polyvore: Elena's outfit in the memory is here.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N I'm sorry about the long delay! I've finished all my exams though! I had a great holiday and then a bit of writer's block but I'm back with this chapter… obviously. The reviews for the last chapter blew me away. It's the most I have ever received for a chapter and it was really amazing. I don't expect to ever get so many, so I'm cherishing the moment. I know a lot of you were annoyed with how things went down in the last chapter but I hope you all stick with me as Damon and Elena try to overcome all their problems and find their way back to each other.

* * *

Elena sat in her car for a good five minutes, letting the tears pour out of her, before pulling herself together and getting some composure. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and the sleeve of her jumper. She'd cried her eyes out and now it was time to do something. She put the key into the ignition and fired up her car. She had to get home, quickly. She needed to get there long before Damon. Blinking away all her tears, she drove away from the bar where her husband was currently inside, kissing her dead ringer.

* * *

What the hell was going on? This wasn't right. Things just weren't adding up. Everything about this kiss was wrong and that in itself with was wrong. Kissing Elena had never felt wrong before. Feeling Elena's tongue run along his bottom lip was the last straw. This just really wasn't right.

He pulled away from her harshly and breathed heavily trying to process everything that had happened in the last five minutes. Finally he settled on feeling angry. "You can't just waltz in here, kiss me and say you love me when you've been making out with Stefan. How am I ever supposed to trust you again, Elena?" he blew up.

He most certainly had not been expecting her to double over in laughter. His anger reached new levels. She thought that this was a laughing matter? Who was this woman he married? She was more like Katherine than Elena. Oh shit.

"A little birdy told me there was a hunky leather clad blue-eyed man hanging around and I thought perfect timing!"

"Katherine."

"The one and only," she grinned. "So how has my Damon been doing these last few years?"

Damon's face revealed nothing. He spoke emotionlessly, "why are you here Katherine?"

Katherine sighed and rolled her eyes at Damon's seriousness. "I thought it was time to make a return to the party in Mystic Falls. Just my luck I didn't actually have to actually go all the way back to that boring town to find a Salvatore brother."

Damon refused to comment on her snarky words. He just wanted answers. "Why were you even looking for me and Stefan?"

Katherine shrugged, like she had no cares in the world. She pouted as she strolled up close to his body and pressed her hands against his chest. "I'm bored and I thought, why not start up our kinky threesome again?" she said grinning widely.

He was not happy, in any way by Katherine's closeness. He shoved her off of him and spoke loudly and clearly, so that she got the point. "That will never happen. In case you lost your memory, I'm married to Elena." He tried not to think about the irony of that sentence.

Katherine rolled her eyes as she recovered from his forceful shove. "Oh yes, Elena. How is my carbon copy doing?" Katherine giggled. "From the look of things, you're so called marriage isn't doing too well."

"It's doing fine," Damon bit out angrily.

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "Just fine? Isn't marriage supposed to be better the fine? Say amazing, astounding or even awesome?"

"It is," Damon said firmly.

"Really? Didn't sound like it to me. What was it you said Elena did? She kissed Stefan, was it?" Katherine asked evilly, knowing perfectly well what Damon has said. "Can I just say, I have never been more proud of my lame-ass doppelganger."

Damon's silence spoke volumes and only pushed Katherine on to make more bitchy comments. "So what was it that attracted her back to Stefan again? Was it his pure love? His sweet kisses? I'm dying to know!"

"Shut the fuck up Katherine." To say Damon wasn't pleased with Katherine's presence would be the understatement of the year.

"Why, does the truth hurt?" Katherine asked sticking out her bottom lip. "Aww, baby it's okay. I'll make it all better." She made a move to get closer to him again.

"Stay the hell away from me and Elena, and Stefan for that matter."

"That's what you say Damon, but I know what you really want."

"Did I not make it clear the last time you stepped foot in Mystic Falls? I want absolutely nothing to do with you. You are the bane of my existence!" Damon shouted, frustration getting the better of him.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Are we really starting up this nonsense again? I want my fun, doting Damon from 1864 again."

"That idiotic, lovesick Damon is dead. Go find some other poor guy to suck the life out of; and I don't mean that literally." Damon tried to move past her to the exit but Katherine wasn't having it.

"Elena really does have you whipped, doesn't she?" Katherine ran her finger down his chest as she gave her best pout, trying to lure him in.

Damon sighed heavily. "Katherine, your cheap tricks won't work. You just don't do it for me anymore."

"Tut, tut, tut Damon. That right there was a blatant lie. Of course I still do it for you! After all, you are married to… well me."

Damon grimaced. "I am certainly, in no way married to you Katherine. You and Elena are as opposite as they get. Elena is kind, funny, sexy, sweet, caring, beautiful, and generous. The list just goes on. You on the other hand are manipulative, vindictive, selfish, bitchy, cunning, self-centered and cruel. Would you look at that? That list goes on too."

Katherine scowled at his words. She didn't like competition and she certainly didn't like competition from the human girl that looked like her.

"I think it's time you skipped town again," Damon advised. His eyes suddenly caught Bree's gaze as she tried to send him a message.

"Not until I get my Salvatore brothers," she replied determinedly.

"That's never happening again, Katherine. I'm taken; off the market forever."

"Well that's clearly not true. I'm pretty sure you and Elena will be breaking up soon, especially seeing as you're not sure whether you'll forgive her for sampling your brother again. On top of that, I can't imagine that she'll take the news that we kissed again all that well."

"You don't know anything about my marriage to Elena so just stay out of it. Go back to whatever Godforsaken place will take you and back to whatever Godforsaken person will have you." Damon nodded ever so slightly towards Bree, making sure Katherine didn't catch onto what was going down.

"Your determination to make me leave has the complete opposite effect on me. It makes me want to stay, just that much more." Katherine smiled evilly. "Unless that's what you wanted? You want me stay but you can't ask me because then that would make you a very naughty husband! Cunning."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Only you would come to such a ridiculous conclusion. I'm outta here." He pushed his way past her and out the back door of the bar.

Katherine sighed and vampire sped out of the bar to block Damon's path again. "You can't leave me high and dry!"

"Actually, I believe I can."

He once again moved away from her but before she could block his pathway once again, she crumbled into a heap on the floor, clutching her whole body.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded weakly.

"He's not doing anything honey, that'd be me," Bree spoke up. "Now, what I'm doing is setting off about a hundred aneurysms in your brain, whilst simultaneously stabbing a hole into all your organs. And now Damon's going to shoot you up with a quadruple dose of vervain." Damon did exactly as she said and Katherine lost consciousness immediately and lay sprawled out on the ground.

"What are you going to do with her?" Damon asked Bree.

"Actually, I have a friend who's been looking for her for a long time. Just my luck, she came swanning into my bar."

"A friend?" Damon asked, curious about her vague words.

Bree gave him a pointed look. "The less you know, the better."

"Elena's not going to be in any harm because of all of this is she?"

Bree shook her head. "Don't worry about Elena. She's safe. I think it's time you went home. You've had enough drama at my bar and I think you've delayed talking to Elena for as long as you possibly can."

Damon nodded and began backing away. "Be careful Bree. Stay safe. Don't underestimate her," he said nodding towards Katherine's unmoving body.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle her. Come visit again with Elena when things have smoothed over."

Damon nodded again. "I will." With those parting words he made his way back to his blue Camaro.

* * *

Damon sat in his car, eyes closed. He tried to process everything that had happened in that incredibly eventful day. Had he really started the day driving back from New York? It had felt like this one day had lasted the length of about three. It didn't make a difference to how he felt though.

The guilt he felt was all-consuming. He'd betrayed Elena – his wife. He was so disappointed in himself for not realising that it wasn't his wife who'd entered the bar, sooner. His drunken and upset state had meant he hadn't put all the blaring, flashing signs together. On top of that, he genuinely hadn't expected Katherine to ever wander back into his life after their last meeting. It didn't change the fact that he had let her kiss him though. How was he supposed to ever explain this Elena? She'd never forgive him. How was she supposed to not worry that he'd do it again? Something in his gut told him he wouldn't make that mistake again but how was Elena supposed believe that?

It felt wrong to judge her for kissing Stefan. After all, he was now no longer any better than her. It made his heart sink to even think about what he'd done. It hadn't been done knowingly but did that really make a big difference?

Damon started up his car and drove back to Mystic Falls, speeding like a maniac – just the way he loved to drive. He couldn't drive this fast when Elena was in his car, over the fear that she would get hurt, even if he did believe it was impossible with his vampire reflexes.

Right now, he had one mission in mind, and that was to go home. He had to speak to Elena. He had to know how things really went down between her and Stefan. Listening to Katherine reinforced in him how different his wife was to her. It made him question whether Elena really had kissed Stefan and if she had, there had to be a reason behind it. Things had been going great between them. She wasn't a manipulative bitch like Katherine who would just string him along. On top of that discussion, he had to tell her about the mistake he made with Katherine. It would be painful for her but he loved her too much to lie about it. He was glad that their relationship consisted of no secrets and lies – at least this was the case on his side and it was what used to be the case for her, but not lately.

* * *

He was back in Mystic Falls in record time. He took note of Elena's car as he parked his car in the driveway. She was back home. He sighed, mentally preparing himself for this long awaited discussion that was likely to turn into a fight. He tried to keep his emotions in check; he didn't want to be vulnerable. He wanted to be unreadable and in complete control of his emotions. Who was he kidding though? Whenever Elena was concerned, his emotions just poured out from him like a milk container with a hole in the bottom. He couldn't put this off any longer, he just had to get it over with and hope there would be a positive outcome. He got out of his car and vampire sped into his house.

The bottom floor of the house was quiet, there was no movement. Strange. Now that he thought about it, the whole house was eerily quiet. He sped up to his room and as he stood outside the door he could hear hustling and bustling from within, and he could distinctly hear Elena's footsteps. It seemed that she was the only person at home though; which now that he thought about it was a good thing: he wanted their conversation to be private.

He stepped into the room and frowned at the sight before him. Elena was packing her clothes into a suitcase. She looked up when she heard the door open and stared hard at her husband. She was expressionless as her eyes bored into his. Without saying a word, she dropped her gaze and went back to packing. Damon was beyond confused over what was happening. The only thing his mind could grasp onto was the fact that she was leaving and uncontrollable panic moved through every cell in his body at this realisation.

"You're packing," Damon stated. Elena hesitated for a second. She didn't look up, but instead continued to fold some of the t-shirts she had pulled out of the closet. "You're leaving." Again, Elena made no move to respond.

Damon closed the door to the room and stepped closer to Elena. He watched her quietly continue to pack her clothes in the suitcase when something inside him suddenly snapped. He vampire sped so that he was mere inches away from her. The sudden closeness startled her, but she didn't let it stop her from her attempts to carry on packing. He forcefully pulled her hands away from her clothes and jerked her chin up so that she was looking at him again.

"What are you doing?"

She laughed emptily. "You know what I'm doing. You said it yourself. I'm packing. I'm leaving." She moved away from his hands and walked back to her closet, pulling out more clothes.

"Where are you going?" he demanded to know. He dismissed her previous mocking words.

"That's for me to know and for you to well… never know."

"Elena, stop playing games! Tell me where you're going?"

Something now snapped in Elena and she quickly turned to face him again. "I'm playing games?" she asked disbelievingly. She walked up to him and pressed her index finger into his chest. "You're the one playing games and I refuse to be a part of them for any longer."

Confusion ran through Damon, but he refused to let it take him away from his line of questioning. "Where are you going Elena?" he asked demandingly once again.

"I'm going somewhere that's away from you," she snapped.

He let her words sink in. She still hadn't told him exactly where she was going. He couldn't help but wonder if she was doing what he thought she was doing. In a small voice, he articulated his fears. "Are you going away with Stefan?"

Pain. That was all that Elena felt as she heard Damon's question. Did he not trust her at all? He really had believed Stefan's lies whole-heartedly. She didn't let him see the inner pain that he had caused her by accusing her of something so lowly. Instead, she used all her experience from watching Damon, to put on a front.

She sneered at him and put in the last pieces of clothing into her suitcase. "No Damon." He sighed in relief and then he was flooded with guilt for ever letting that thought in let alone actually voicing it to her. His relief didn't last long. "I'm actually moving all my things so that Katherine can move in."

Damon was sure that for about ten seconds, time stood still. His mind was blank; his mouth refused to open and his heart would not stop racing. He could hardly process her words. Her words went round and round in his head. She knew.

Elena watched every inch of Damon's face. She was desperate for answers, but she wasn't going to show him that. She watched his eyebrows screw up and his lips purse. She was scared to hear what he would have to say about the woman she looked like: his first love. She didn't want him to spout bullshit. She wanted the truth; even if it stung like nothing else before.

"How did you know?" Elena's world truly crumbled after those four measly words. He hadn't denied it, but she hadn't expected him to seeing as that would make him a liar, because she'd seen them kissing. He just hadn't explained himself, which meant he did have feelings for Katherine despite the fact that he denied it during one of their post-amnesia talks.

Elena looked away, composed herself and then looked back at her husband. "I'm pretty sure I remember telling you once before that I might not have my memories but I sure as hell have eyes."

"You were in Georgia?" Damon asked, genuinely shocked that she had been there. How had he not seen her, or even sensed her?

"Yep, just in time to see you all over Katherine," she replied nonchalantly as she zipped up her suitcase.

"It's not what it looked like," Damon attempted to explain.

"Really?" Elena asked with mocked incredulity. "So you weren't kissing my vampire ancestor that looks exactly like me?"

"That's not what I meant!" Damon said, failing to adequately explain himself. He was getting frustrated with both himself and Elena. She wasn't listening to him. He needed to tell her it was a mistake, a drunken, stupid mistake.

"Then please," Elena began sarcastically, "explain to me why Katherine had her tongue down your throat."

Damon's eyes flared. "Her tongue was not down my throat, as you so nicely put it," he growled. "Besides, Katherine kissed me and you kissed Stefan. It's all cancelled out now."

Silence fell amongst them. Elena couldn't believe what Damon had said; in fact Damon couldn't believe what he had said. It was the heat of the moment. Frustration got the better of him and he let his mouth run.

"Is that how it is now? I supposedly hurt you, so you hurt me back. Maybe Andie was right. Maybe our relationship is toxic."

Damon remained mute. He wanted to say that Andie was a jealous bitch and what she said was completely wrong but his mouth refused to do as he said. It was as though it realised the last thing he had said was completely idiotic and so now it was trying to save his skin by keeping shut. The only problem was that keeping shut was now the worst option.

Elena was unable to hold her emotions in any longer. In fact, she'd been surprised how well she had kept all the pain, hurt and anger in. Tears rolled down her face slowly as she faced her new reality. She was so disappointed in both Damon and herself. If she had just been honest with him from the start, they could've avoided this whole mess. That being said Damon should've never kissed Katherine and then justified it by saying she'd kissed someone else first. He didn't even know the truth about the Stefan kiss. She didn't have the energy to even let him in on the truth now. It wasn't as though it would make a difference now. The damage was done and she just needed to get away from him.

"I'm moving into Jenna's place for a while," she spoke up, giving Damon the answer to his first question. "I think… I think we need some time apart. We need to cool down before we talk anymore because neither of us can look at what's happened objectively. I'll come find you, when… if I'm ready to forgive you." She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her jumper as she picked up her suitcase and turned to leave the room.

"Elena!" he called out weakly. She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to look at him.

"I need time Damon," she said brokenly as she gave him a small, sad smile and left the room.

Damon stood stationary for a long time, unable to wrap his head around the fact that his wife was gone.

* * *

A/N Things just keep getting worse huh? Keep the faith though, it's a bumpy ride.

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LJ: miss_asha_s


	28. Chapter 28

A/N There's quite a lot of dialogue in this chapter, so be prepared.

* * *

Two days passed by incredibly slowly or at least Damon believed they had gone by very slowly.

He rolled over in his bed and that was when he heard the noise. There were hurried footsteps, moving with purpose, coming from the other end of the hall. He sat up in bed; it wasn't like he'd really been sleeping anyway. He couldn't, not without Elena with him. The house had been so empty the last few days, and not just because of Elena's absence. He hadn't seen or heard from Bonnie and Stefan in the last few days. It was strange.

"Stefan, is that you?" he called out.

He got no response. His eyebrows knitted together as he pulled on his trousers and a white wife-beater and made his way to his brother's room. When he pushed the door open he came face to face with the witch. She had a suitcase out, just like Elena had had a few nights ago. What was it with these girls leaving the Salvatore brothers?

"You're leaving," he stated, to which he got a small nod of confirmation from Bonnie. "Does Stefan know?" he asked. Once again, he received a nod in confirmation.

He let out a large sigh as he moved his right hand to rub his throbbing forehead. Bonnie leaving was probably crushing Stefan. What the hell had gone down between them?

"Don't go Bonnie." He couldn't believe that he was begging yet another girl to not leave the Salvatore Boarding House. "Stefan needs you."

Bonnie paused in her ministrations and held on tightly to the dress that was in her hand. She took a deep breath and looked Damon in the eyes, giving him a sad, almost sympathetic smile. That was weird. It was almost like she was pitying him.

"If that were true Damon, I wouldn't be leaving. What Stefan needs is help. Help that I can't give him without getting destroyed in the process."

"Stop speaking in riddles and just tell me what the damn problem is!" he snapped. All the lies over the last month from a number of people were getting to him. He just wanted the truth. Why did everyone find it so hard to give it to him? They all seemed to find it much easier to spin him some bullshit.

Once again she gave him that stupid sympathetic smile and he had to fight the urge to tell her to shove it where the sun don't shine.

"I'm sorry Damon but it's not my place to tell you. You need to hear it from Stefan."

"And how long is that frikking gonna take? In case you hadn't realised he's been MIA lately."

She turned around and continued folding clothes into her suitcase. "I've been keeping an eye on him. He'll be coming home soon."

She zipped her suitcase closed and took one last glance around the room to see if there were any other important items that she had to take with her right away. Coming to the conclusion that there wasn't, she picked her suitcase up and pulled out the handle.

She looked at Damon and debated on what to tell him. "Look after Elena. She'll come around sooner or later and with this amnesia thing, she needs you more than ever."

With those departing words, she left.

* * *

Damon was lying on the living room couch with a glass of bourbon in hand, when he heard the front door open for the second time that day. This time it was indeed his sibling who came in. It seemed that Bonnie was right when she had said Stefan would make his return soon.

Stefan tried to discreetly make his way to the stairs but stopped in his tracks when Damon's voice rang out through the Boarding House.

"Want to tell me why I caught Witchy moving out this morning? Or are you going to spout some bullshit about how it hurts too much to talk about it?"

Stefan turned to look his brother dead in the eye. Damon could see that he had some sort of resolve, like he had a mission he had to complete. He didn't answer Damon's questions and instead he vampire sped to his room.

The fact that he had ignored him, didn't sit well with Damon. Bonnie's riddled words repeated themselves in his head. Stefan was definitely hiding things from him and he needed answers. He needed to know how things went down between his brother and his wife. He first needed to know what caused Bonnie and Stefan to break up. It couldn't have been what had gone down with Elena, could it?

"So it seems that Judgey left, but I guess that's not a surprise to you." Damon was clearly fishing for information as he followed Stefan into his room. Stefan glanced at him but didn't say a word. "Are you seriously going to leave me in the dark? What the hell happened between you two?"

Again, Damon got no response and this time it frustrated him to no end. However, before he could put his frustrations into words, he noticed Stefan take out a suitcase. What the fuck was this? Was someone planning a cruel game on him? Was he dreaming or something? There was no way in hell he was watching a third person pack up their things and leave the Boarding House. He had to be trapped in some freakish nightmare that was on a loop.

"You're leaving too? What the fuck is this? Is there some kinda ghost in this Boarding House that is scaring everyone away?"

"I need to go away for a while," Stefan answered vaguely. "I need to work on myself."

"Stop chatting shit Stefan. You're already broody enough as it is. What is really going on? What happened between you and Bonnie?"

Stefan sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. Now that Damon looked more closely, he realised his brother looked very pale and he was really sweaty. He even had bloodshot eyes like he hadn't been sleeping and they were puffy which meant he had definitely been crying. If anything, Stefan looked just like he did. He even looked like he had a lot of alcohol in his system.

"Do I need to go kick that witch's ass?" Damon asked, the concern for his brother sobering him up. It didn't make sense though; Bonnie had looked as distraught as Stefan in the morning.

"No!" Stefan stopped packing and turned to look at his brother. "There's something I have to confess, Damon."

Damon didn't like where things were heading. A confession? What had he done? It had to have been serious if it caused Bonnie to leave him. Even he could tell that the witch had been madly in love with his brother. Why else would she go against her nature and beliefs that all vampires were evil and deserved to die, if she hadn't loved his brother so strongly?

"What is it?"

"I… I fell of the wagon. I started drinking human blood again and I can't control my thirst," Stefan blurted out. He looked away from Damon, ashamed of himself.

"What?" Damon asked genuinely shocked. How had he not noticed what had been going on with his brother? Had he really been that focused on Elena and their situation, that he hadn't noticed his brother struggling? Guilt consumed him. He had been such a bad brother lately. Stefan had needed him and he hadn't been there. And Bonnie left him, because of his struggles? He was going to kill that bitch when he saw her. He knew she was, well… judgey, but surely she should have known this was always a possibility with Stefan. Damon was amazed by how long it had taken Stefan to relapse. "How did it happen?"

Tears slipped down Stefan's cheeks as he recounted his failures. "It was the third time after I visited Elena in hospital when she was still in her coma. I'd walked to the hospital, and whilst I was walking back home, about a mile away from the hospital, there was this woman. She was bleeding out," Stefan rubbed his tears away as he continued. "She had totalled her car and had managed to escape. When she saw me, she just collapsed in my arms." He took a deep breath, not wanting to relive what had happened. "Her blood, it was everywhere, all over me and then I couldn't… I couldn't stop myself." He didn't bother elaborating on what happened next to the woman. They both clearly knew what happened next. "I didn't visit Elena again because I was scared of what I'd do to her and everyone else in that hospital."

Damon felt for his brother, but what could he do? He told Stefan a thousand times over that he was being an idiot for trying to live off of animal blood. He couldn't believe he'd left Elena in Stefan's care so often in the past month. Knowing that he had left her with a volatile, uncontrollable monster scared him to his core. He had to thank the heavens that Stefan hadn't attempted to take a chunk out of her.

"Stefan-" Damon began but was cut off by Stefan.

"That isn't just it. There's more. I.. I… I-"

"Oh spit it out Stefan! I know we have eternity and all but I really don't want to waste it listening to you trying to get a sentence out."

"I kissed Elena. It wasn't her who initiated the kiss."

And with those words, Damon's world came crumbling down, once again.

"What?" he whispered. He cleared his throat, "You did what?" he asked his voicing cracking halfway through the sentence.

"I kissed her. I lied before when I said that she kissed me." Stefan stared Damon straight in the eyes, and watched the turmoil that he had caused him swirl around in his blue eyes.

And then things happened so fast, neither of them were entirely sure what exactly happened next. All they knew was that Stefan was being pulverised by Damon.

Damon had pushed him to the floor and was throwing persistent punches at him, hitting his face, his torso, his arms… just any part of Stefan's body that he could.

"You," PUNCH. "kissed," PUNCH. "my," PUNCH. "wife?" PUNCH. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Damon asked in a rage.

The only response Stefan could conjure up was spitting up his own blood.

Damon wasn't going to stop hitting his brother until he started feeling better, but he quickly found that whooping his brother's ass didn't bring him as much happiness as he thought it would. It didn't even minimise the rage he felt towards him. The lying, cheating, manipulative, son of a bitch deserved so much more than getting his ass handed to him.

He had to know why he did it. He needed real answers. He couldn't put it together himself. It made no sense. Stefan had gotten over Elena… at least that was what he had thought. His brother had been his best man at the wedding; he had been happy for him. He couldn't have been that good at lying for three or so years.

"Why did you do it Stefan? I have to know," he asked, his voice steely as he dismounted his brother's bleeding body.

He went to the corner of Stefan's room where there was a bottle of gin, not his usual choice of poison, but he'd deal. He needed something to help keep the vampire in him in check or else he wouldn't be able to control his want to severely torture his brother.

"Speak up Steffy. Unless you want me to hit you some more that is."

"I- I don't know," he managed to say.

"You don't know?" Damon spit back, stressing each word. "Are you serious? So you're telling me that you just kissed my wife for kicks?" Oh there was no way he wasn't going to be hitting Stefan again… soon.

"No, it wasn't like that."

"Well then, what was it like Stefan? There's only so much bullshit I can take, so you better speak up quickly or there's no telling what I'm going to do."

"I think it's the bloodlust," Stefan said, coughing up more of his blood. "It makes this other side come out of me. I don't really know why."

"Oh come on Stefan. This isn't about the bloodlust. Learn to own your actions! There has to be a real reason behind it. Do you love her? Do you still love Elena?"

Stefan closed his eyes in shame. "A part of me will always love her." Damon let out a large breath as his brother's confession lingered in the room. "It's just that when she came back home, after the incident, she was different. She was more like the Elena that I was with. Her lingering feelings for me, it woke something up inside me. I tried to get over it but I don't know, I couldn't, I guess. So I kissed her and she made it clear that there was nothing between us anymore. I know you think the human blood had nothing to do with it but I honestly think that I'd never have done it if I wasn't so buzzed on human blood. I love Bonnie and I never would've betrayed her and hurt you if I had my head screwed on properly."

"That doesn't change the fact that you still would've had feelings for Elena. You just would've been a coward and would have kept it in whilst you still silently betrayed both me and Bonnie," Damon stated and Stefan dropped his head as the truth behind the words couldn't be denied.

Damon dropped his face into his hands. This was all such a big mess. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't stand to look at his brother without being overcome with murderous rage. His reasons weren't good enough. No reason would ever be good enough.

"Are you still on human blood?"

"I've managed to control the thirst for the last two days," Stefan answered honestly.

"Not drinking a sip of human blood is not called control Stefan. When are you going to learn that?" Damon snapped, frustration at his brother's antics getting the better of him. Stefan didn't know what to say in response and decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut. He was in no shape to get into another fist fight with Damon. "Would you have told me the truth if you were still on the blood high?"

Stefan swallowed. "I don't think so. I was being selfish and I was desperate which is why I came up with the plan to lie to Bonnie and have you overhear, even though it was so obviously going to backfire."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Damon said as his hands came out it in front of him and he tried to get his head around what Stefan had just let slip. "You planned it all?"

Stefan realised his mistake and immediately braced himself to run as he saw Damon storming towards him again. Unfortunately for him, the lack of proper sustenance and his earlier ass-kicking meant he'd hardly moved by the time Damon had reached him and kicked him to the ground again. Once again, the punches were flying. "You, son of a bitch! You planned to ruin my marriage. How can you even call yourself my brother?" Damon asked, losing himself in the pain and heartache he was feeling.

"Damon," Stefan gasped as his body took another blow. "Stop!" Damon didn't listen to him. "Please! It hurts." Hearing his brother begging, Damon's mind came back to him and he immediately moved away from his brother.

He looked at his brother, beaten to pulp, lying on the floor. Everything was a mess. He didn't know how they'd ever get passed this. He didn't think he could ever forgive his brother.

Yes, he'd kissed Elena and done a hell of a lot more than that to her whilst she was with Stefan, but the situation was completely different back then. First of all, Stefan wasn't married to Elena and second of all, it had been consensual on both sides, a mutual decision. But wait, had Elena wanted to kiss Stefan? No, Stefan had said that Elena yelled at him after he did it.

"You should leave Stefan," Damon advised.

"That was what I was trying to do!" Stefan replied angrily, still lying on the ground, working up the strength to sit up.

"No, I think you should leave Mystic Falls for a very, very long time."

Stefan's face scrunched up as he let his brother's words sink in. He had really fucked up this time. Usually, he could rely on Damon to fall back on, but this was Damon telling him that he wasn't going to be able to forgive him for a long time. He was going to be alone for a long time, with no brother to support him. He'd destroyed all that they had recovered over the past four and a half years. It was gone, just like that.

"Okay." Stefan nodded as he got up and limped over to his suitcase to pack some more clothes and other important items.

Damon didn't move from his position. His eyes were staring off in space as his mind was a million miles away. He couldn't believe that in the end his relationship with his brother, his own flesh and blood, had come down to this.

Stefan cleared his throat to gain Damon's attention. Damon's eyes flicked towards his brother who was now standing by his bedroom door, suitcase in hand.

"So I guess this is goodbye... for a while?" he asked unsure. He had to know if this was forever. He wouldn't be able to stand it if he had truly ruined the relationship with his older brother, the only person that had been a constant in his life. He'd been there since the day he was born. They obviously hadn't spent a great deal of their lives together, especially after they were turned, but Stefan had always known that Damon was there if he needed him, even when his sibling had claimed to hate him.

Damon took in the image of his brother in front of him. It would be the last time he saw him for God knows how long. He heard the question in Stefan's words. His blue eyes looked straight into his brother's green eyes and he gave him a small nod. It was so small that had Stefan not been a vampire, he wouldn't have seen it. With a small, sad smile on his face, Stefan departed. The front door of the Boarding House slammed closed as the third person with no intention of coming back, left.

Damon made his way back to the living room and quickly fixed himself another drink. As he lay down on the couch, he finally let the guilt that he had tried not think about whilst talking to Stefan, consume him. He'd made a complete mess of things between him and Elena.

He'd made the biggest mistake of his life by not listening to her side of things before running away. He should've had more faith in her. It was just that she'd scared the hell out of him when she'd been spouting her love for Stefan as soon as she woke up from her coma. It didn't seem like a stretch that she might actually act on those feelings. Still, he was wrong to doubt her and to not hear her out. They could've avoided all this unneeded drama if he had just asked her whether what Stefan had said was true or not. He'd just assumed that because Stefan was his brother and because he'd overheard it, it must've been true. Now that he thought about it, he realised he'd texted Stefan when he was five minutes away from their house, making it easy for Stefan to get his timing right to spread those lies to Bonnie, about his wife.

Oh shit. Elena still didn't know the truth about what had gone down between him and Katherine. He had to tell her. He couldn't bear to have her keep thinking that he had sought comfort in that bitch's arms. He had to clear up this gargantuan chaos. It was all caused by their inability to not jump to conclusions and their stupidity for not listening to the other and finding out the truth, before making rash decisions. They'd both been complete idiots. Neither one of them had actually done anything unforgivable. Stefan had forced himself on her and Katherine had tricked him into letting her kiss him. They'd let other people get in between their relationship and mess it up.

He sat up and scrambled to get his coat. He ran out of the house, one arm in his leather jacket, whilst his other arm tried to get into the other sleeve.

* * *

Damon pounded on the front door. He had to see her and he had to see her right now. When no-one opened the door after a few seconds he pounded his fist against it again and again.

"Hold on!" he heard Jenna scream from the other side. "I'm on my way!"

When Jenna opened the door, she rolled her eyes at the person standing on her patio. She should've guessed from the relentless knocking.

"What do you want Damon? Want to torture another niece of mine? Well I'm sorry to say that I only have the one."

Damon sighed. "Come on Jenna, I have to see her. I need to make things right."

"Well as promising as that sounds Damon. I doubt there's anything you can say that will make her forgive you. Katherine? Seriously?" Jenna asked accusingly.

Damon rolled his eyes. God, she was almost as judgey as Bonnie. "She told you?" Damon asked, his words laced with a little annoyance.

"No, I'm just God, so I'm omniscient." Damon smirked at her sarcasm. Now if only she wasn't so judgey, he could really like her. He understood why Ric loved her. He knew who wore the pants in that relationship. Where was Ric, anyway? Maybe he could use him to get into the house. Speaking of the devil, Ric made his way towards them, having exited the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" he asked cluelessly as Damon rolled his eyes again. His impatience was getting the better of him. He should've just busted Elena's bedroom window. It was closed, hence he'd gone for the front door but it seemed that that had been a bad decision.

"Ric, let me in," Damon bit out. He was in half a mind to just burst into the house.

"I'm sorry I can't do that mate," Ric replied. He signed from behind Jenna's back that Jenna would kill him if he let his friend into the house.

Damon's face screwed up. He'd had enough with this shit and went to push past Jenna and into the house but he was stopped by a barrier. It was the kind of barrier that existed when a vampire had never entered a house before; but that made no sense in this situation because he had been inside this house numerous times.

"What the hell is this?" he asked angrily.

Ric swallowed, feeling guilty. "Bonnie came over and did some witch voodoo. It's a spell she recently discovered that uninvites vampires into houses."

"Just invite me the fuck in. I need to talk to Elena. I need her," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry Damon but until Elena wants to see and speak to you, you're not stepping one foot into this house," Jenna said.

"Please, Jenna," he begged.

Her face softened as she spoke again, "Damon, wait for her to be ready. She'll come to you, I swear." And then she closed the door in his face.

* * *

Jenna knocked firmly on her niece's bedroom door. She heard a weak 'come in' from Elena and entered the room. She looked her niece. If anything, Elena looked worse now than she had when she had first turned up at her doorstep with her suitcase in hand. Elena's eyes were puffy, her skin was pale and her cheeks were tear-stained. She was still lying under the covers, letting time pass her by.

"Damon came by."

"I heard," was all Elena said.

"Did you want to see him?"

"No."

Jenna sighed. She didn't like seeing Elena this way. In fact, it had been a very long time since she'd last seen Elena this upset.

"Elena, you're going to have to talk to him at some point."

"I'm not ready yet," Elena replied, shooting her aunt a glare.

"You know I argued so much against you marrying Damon. I was so angry because I was so certain you were making the wrong choice."

"_You're making the wrong choice Elena! You're only nineteen years old for God's sake. You have no idea how much work needs to go into a marriage just to keep it going, let alone make it a happy marriage."_

"_No offence Aunt Jenna, but you don't know what it takes to make a marriage work either because you've never gotten married."_

"_I have a lot of friends that are and every single one of them would back me up on the fact that you are making a stupid, impulsive decision. It seems Damon's worn off on you more than I thought."_

_"I'm going to marry him Aunt Jenna, whether you approve or not."_

_"What are you going to do when you finally realise that you can do so much better than him? Do you really think he'd just let you out of the marriage? He is possessive and cruel. Stop letting his good looks tell you otherwise. You don't want to do this Elena!" Jenna shouted._

_"You don't know him like I know him. I can't do better than him; he is the best that there is. Even though it will never come to it, he would let me out of the marriage if I really wanted it. You know why? Because he values my happiness above everything else in the world. And do you know why I'll never leave him? Because I value his happiness above everything else. He's neither possessive nor cruel. He's sweet, funny, witty and generous. He's selfless, compassionate and yes a little dangerous, but I love him. Oh and his good looks... they're more than just good looks. He's the most handsome guy that's ever walked this Earth and he's mine, but don't worry, I don't let his looks fool me. Somewhere down the line, you'll realise how right I am about him."_

_Jenna let her head hang in defeat. "There's no way I can convince you not to do this, is there?"_

_Elena shook her head vehemently. "I'm marrying him, no matter what."_

_"So be it then." Jenna gave up with arguing. There was no use. She knew her niece would choose her fiancé over her own aunt. She may as well embrace the marriage. It was better than losing her only niece, the one she had come to love as a daughter._

"Elena?" Jenna asked waving her hand in front of Elena's face to get her attention.

"What?" she asked, snapping out of it.

"I asked if you were okay. You seemed a little out of it," Jenna said, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm sorry, I spaced out a little. I'm all ears now," she replied, her mind still lingering on the memory she'd just gotten back.

Jenna gave her a funny look, like she wasn't quite sure whether she believed her niece of not but in the end, she decided to dismiss her doubts. "Well like I was saying, I was wrong. I still remember you shouting at me, how I was wrong about yours and Damon's relationship. You know us Sommers hate admitting we're wrong but I'll admit it, right here and now, that I was wrong about your marriage to Damon."

Elena was a little taken aback from Jenna's words, especially so soon after reliving the heated argument that had passed between them years ago. She moved to sit up, her back lying against her headboard. "What do you mean?"

Jenna sighed. "I used to think that you and Damon were never going to work out because it seemed like it was only him who was gaining from your relationship. I thought that you were helping him to be a better man but he was doing nothing in return. I knew you guys were happy but it seemed like you two were just in an extended honeymoon phase. I worried that it was lust that was keeping you from detesting him. Why else would you be so willing to give when you got nothing in return? It wasn't until you guys got married that I found out he was a vampire and believe me, I flew off the handle. I genuinely thought you had ruined your life. Somewhere along the line, however, I saw that I was wrong. He let you experience new things. He took you to extravagant places and he let you live life to the fullest. He challenged you and helped you to think outside the box. He was in fact, like you had told me many times, perfect for you."

Elena remained silent throughout her aunt's speech. She didn't know quite what to say in response. She didn't need to say anything though, as Jenna continued to speak.

"It used to freak me out how much of an effect you had on each other. You guys were so in sync, not just with your movements, but with your emotions as well. It was scary seeing how quickly Damon picked up on a change in your emotions, but you seemed to love the way that he knew what was going on inside of you. It must be frustrating the hell out of him that he can't seem to do it anymore since you're accident."

"You'd be amazed by how he still knows a lot about how I'm feeling. Sometimes I think he knows how I'm feeling better than I know how I'm feeling!" Elena chuckled.

"I think you should forgive him," Jenna said honestly, getting to the point of the conversation.

Elena knew it had been coming and yet she still hadn't been prepared for it. "I don't know how to," she answered honestly.

"I think maybe a clean slate is the way to go. You've both made mistakes and you've both urged the other to make mistakes. Even if you don't feel like you can forgive him just yet, you should definitely hear him out. You need to tell him about what happened with Stefan as well and about your feelings for him."

Elena's eyes shot up to look at Jenna. "How am I supposed to tell him that I love him, even after all he's done?"

"He did one bad thing Elena. Think about how patient he's been with your whole amnesia debacle. He's been supportive, caring and loving. These are all things I once thought Damon was incapable of. I know that right now, him kissing Katherine seems like the end of the world, but if you think about it objectively, all it is a blip on a beautiful journey that you two have taken. Hear him out on it. Maybe there's more to story than you think. Honestly, I can see that he loves you so much; I personally don't understand why he'd kiss Katherine. There has to be a real reason for it. Besides, if there's no hope for you two, there's basically no hope for the rest of us!"

"I think I just need some time."

"And you have it. Just don't take too much time. Damon might end up doing something drastic without you. I never know what's going through that vampire's head."

"Neither do I," Elena replied as she went back to her lying position in bed.

* * *

Another two days went by, most of which Damon had spent as drunk as a skunk. He'd forgotten how awful being lonely was. For the last three and a half years he'd had Elena on his side and for the last four and a half years he'd had Stefan with him as well. The Boarding House felt more like a ghost house these days. The only one walking the large halls was him.

Tyler had come by a couple times to help him with the boredom. He secretly felt that Tyler may have been sent by Caroline to check up on him, make sure he wasn't suicidal. That being said, he was grateful to Tyler for drinking away with him and not forcing him to talk about his issues. All the girls in Mystic Falls had obviously sided with Elena. That fact that there were sides frustrated the hell out of him. There didn't need to be sides! He and Elena were just having a series of misunderstandings. If only he could talk to her…

Alaric had cleverly stayed away from Damon. Damon's anger and annoyance towards his best friend hadn't decreased one bit. Stupid bugger let that witch put an uninviting spell on his house.

His phone started ringing and Damon felt around his pocket, trying to get to it. His fingers fumbled a few times, yes, he was definitely drunk.

Speaking once again of the Devil, Ric's name shone up on his phone. Damon pressed the answer key and brought the mobile up to his ear.

"I was wondering when you'd grow a pair of balls and work up the nerve to deal with my wrath."

"Damon, you need to get to the hospital quickly. Jeremy's been shot."

And just like that, Damon sobered up.

* * *

A/N Longest chapter I've ever written! Oh and just a little warning, this story will be coming to an end fairly soon. I know it's sad (I feel sad too!) but I never wanted this story to ever become one that has dragged out and gone past it's sell by date.

Also the whole uninviting spell is a little reference to Buffy. I still remember Spike's pained face when he discovered he'd been uninvited.

Please leave a review, every single one means a lot to me and really helps with the motivation to keep writing! Also, it might be one of your last few chances to do so

Twitter: ComsicButton  
LJ: miss_asha_s


	29. Chapter 29

A/N Okay I must first start with an apology for how long it took me to update. I'm really, really sorry! For those of you who follow me on twitter, you'll know that I had family from Denmark and Germany staying over for a week and a half and so I had to spend all my time entertaining them and showing them around London e.t.c. Following that I had a large bout of writer's block and I just found writing really hard to do. It doesn't help that the London Olympics are currently going on. I'm literally glued to my television everyday! Come on Team GB ;)

* * *

Damon waited impatiently for the elevator doors to open. He looked at his watch for what must have been at least the thirtieth time. It was taking him way too long to get to his destination. Wasn't vampire speed supposed to make everything go faster? It hadn't helped that there was an incompetent young woman in charge at the reception, who took much longer than she needed to direct him to the waiting room for those who have a family member or friend in the operating room. For once, he cursed his dashing good looks for having the ability to disarm women.

As soon as he reached his destination his eyes honed in on one figure and one figure alone. She was standing against the wall, her eyes closed and her cheeks stained with dried tears. He strode towards her as fast as he could, without tapping into vampire speed. He didn't even need to say anything to her when he reached her. She sensed his presence, and without opening her eyes, she buried her head in his chest and began to sob again.

He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair and her back, trying to calm her down. The soothing movements slowly had an effect on her, as once again her tears dried. That, however, didn't mean that she let go of him, if anything, she gripped his shirt tighter and tried to dig her head deeper into his chest.

It felt so good to feel her body up against his. He didn't mean it in a sexual way. It was just, feeling her so close, brought him a calm he hadn't felt since she had left. This was the longest he'd gone without talking to her, seeing her and kissing her, in a very long time.

Time passed by slowly as Damon worked up the courage to speak of what was on his mind.

"Elena," he continued to stroke her hair, "it wasn't what it looked like."

He was about to continue with is explanation when Elena suddenly jerked out of his arms, pulling herself away from him and looking away.

"Can we not talk about this now?" she asked, "in case you don't realise, my brother is fighting for his life, so now is just not the time to get into this."

Damon gulped. She was right. Now wasn't the time for this conversation. It was just the this was the first time he'd seen her in days, it was the first chance since he'd discovered the truth, that he'd had to explain everything to Elena.

"Okay," he nodded, reaching out to pull her close to him again.

He pulled her body back into his embrace and they remained in this position for what was probably a long time, until the surgeon who'd been performing on Jeremy approached their group.

"The Gilbert family?" the doctor asked tentatively.

Jenna nodded her head ferociously, unable to speak. It was only then that Damon had really realised that Jenna, Ric and Anna were all also in the waiting room, patiently awaiting news on Jeremy. Jenna and Anna had puffy, red eyes, similar to Elena and Ric had a sad, solemn look on his face.

"Well the bullet went through Mr Gilbert's chest, but luckily it only grazed his heart. We were able to quickly stop the bleeding, and sew up the small hole made near the apex of the heart. He is currently in a stable position," he said calmly, as he delivered the good news.

Elena felt her whole body deflate. He was okay. Her brother was going to be okay. She felt almost numb as all the anxiety and worry was released from her body. She had come so close to losing her brother, and the fear she had been feeling was just indescribable.

When Jenna had broke the news to her in the middle of the night that Anna had called, to inform them that Jeremy was in the hospital, she had felt her insides go cold. She didn't need an explanation as to why he was there, she just expected the worst and so she had gotten dressed and joined Ric and Jenna in the car as they drove towards Mystic Falls General Hospital.

It seemed Jenna hadn't known exactly what had gone down either as she launched into a million questions when she spotted Anna in the waiting room. She quickly became muted though when she took in the sight of how broken Anna was. She could hardly speak as the tears kept falling and her breathing became erratic. Jenna quickly pulled the girl into a hug as they supported each other through the ordeal.

Anna eventually calmed down and was able to explain what had happened. Apparently Jeremy was in a shop, when a masked man came in to rob the store. It seemed that Jeremy had tried to do the noble but incredibly idiotic thing of interfering, which had led to him being shot and the thief escaping the scene.

They all looked like a state, standing there in the waiting room. Elena even saw a couple tears leaving Ric's eyes. Like Jenna, he felt as though Jeremy was practically his own son.

Elena had eyed Ric disappearing off to a corner soon after learning how Jeremy had been injured. She noticed him make a phone call that must have lasted less than five seconds and she knew. She knew that he had called her husband, Damon, and surprisingly she wasn't the least bit angry, just relieved, but still the overwhelming feeling that she had, was that of fear.

Elena reached out for Damon's hand as soon as the good news of her brother's condition set in, and she squeezed it hard. She felt Damon's firm grip in return. Had he been human, she certainly would have been hurting him with her tight grip, but thankfully, he was not.

Elena asked the doctor whether or not she'd be able to see Jeremy but she was unfortunately told that he wasn't allowed any visitors for a couple hours. It was three in the morning now and they'd have to wait until nine before they could see him.

By five in the morning, Anna, Ric, Elena and Jenna had nodded off, leaving Damon to be the only one wide awake. Elena was sleeping with her head resting on Damon's shoulder as they sat in seats. Damon looked at Elena trying to think of a way to get her off of his shoulder without waking her up. He was in desperate need for some coffee, as he tried to hold his overwhelming hunger at bay. Now was not the time to go feed… although he was technically in a hospital. But no, he could keep the hunger at bay for at least another twelve hours, as long as he got a couple cups of coffee and maybe even some bourbon.

He shifted his shoulder downwards to try and slide it out from under her head but he quickly realised that that wasn't going to work, as her head just followed his shoulder. He tried to come up with a new plan but he needn't have bothered as she stirred awake anyway.

For a second she looked almost confused as to what was happening and where she was, but her memory of the night quickly came back to her as her body shot up, wide awake.

She quickly caught Damon's gaze and frantically asked, "Did the doctor give us an update?" When Damon shook his head in answer, she nodded in understanding. "Why are you still awake?" she asked yawning whilst rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"I'm just not tired," he answered simply. "I'm going to go get some coffee, you should go back to sleep," he advised as he brushed stray strands of her hair behind her right ear.

Elena shook her head vehemently. She didn't want to be here, in this cold, dull, disheartening waiting room without Damon by her side. "I'll come with you, I need some coffee too," she said, covering up the real reason behind why she wanted to go to the hospital cafeteria with him.

"No, you should get some more sleep," Damon argued.

"I can't get back to sleep now, I'm too antsy," she argued just as strongly.

"Okay, I guess," Damon gave in.

They walked in awkward silence towards the cafeteria, neither knowing what to say to each other.

"Elena-"

"Don't!" she interrupted sharply. She knew exactly what he wanted to discuss but now still wasn't the time to work out their issues. Having this argument with him would be too draining; she didn't have the emotional strength to hash out their messy situation. "Please," she begged.

Damon stared at her for a good few seconds before slowly nodding his head in silent defeat. He understood why Elena wasn't ready, but she didn't understand the whole situation. If he could just tell her... well things would definitely get a thousand times better between them, right? Despite the fact he understood her reasons behind wanting to put their important conversation on the back burner, he was bursting to tell her how everything was a misunderstanding. He worried it might come spilling out of him, despite his best intentions to wait for her to be ready.

They reached the cafeteria, where Damon asked Elena to find them a place to sit whilst he got their coffee orders. He made a plain black coffee for himself and a coffee with milk and one sugar for Elena. He glanced around the surprisingly busy cafeteria, especially considering it was very early in the morning, and quickly spotted his wife sitting at a small table for two by a window, on the far side.

He placed her coffee in front of her when he reached her and she gave him a quiet 'thank you' in return.

Once again they resumed their silence as they drank their coffees, but this time there was no awkwardness lingering in the silence.

"He's going to be okay Elena," Damon said, breaking their silence as he attempted to reassure her. She smiled. Damon had said the exact words that had been circling around in her mind. Still, it was hard to absorb all that had happened in the last twelve hours or so.

"I know," she whispered in reply. Damon gave a slight nod of the head but still watched her shrewdly. He was looking for any signs that she was lying, and that she was on the brink of a break down. He didn't see any of those signs. He should have known better. Elena was strong, the strongest girl he had ever met. She had dealt with a lot of shit happening to her, starting with the death of her parents.

Silence fell amongst them once again but was broken quickly by the unexpected sound of Elena's laughter. Damon gave her a confused look. Okay, maybe he had been wrong; maybe she was on the verge of a break down.

"Sorry," she said as her laughter calmed down. "I'm not crazy."

"No offence Elena, but when someone has to say that they aren't crazy, well, it generally means that they are. The same goes for the lines, 'I'm not a stalker' and 'I promise I'm not a serial killer.' I'm actually quite partial to the last one."

Elena scowled at her husband's comments. She didn't like being reminded of how off the rails Damon had been in the past.

"So, why all the laughing?" Damon enquired curiously.

"Well it's not really funny..." Damon raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'I still want to know'. "It's just, I was thinking about how often I'm confined within the hospital walls, both as a patient and a concerned friend or family member. I must say I think that I much prefer being the patient. I must have a record for the most visits to the hospital for different reasons, right?"

Damon gave a grim smile at her musings. "I for one much prefer it when you aren't the patient. For someone who hates hospitals, you sure are here quite often. I had to drag you here for your check up as you were behaving like a petulant child."

Elena smiled at the memory and what they had done later that day, but she quickly wiped her face blank. Thinking of happier times between the two of them was painful. She didn't want to be reminded of how perfect things could be between them.

"I hate hospitals."

"I'm pretty sure no-one out there likes them... well except vampires living off blood bags, like myself; although I'm still not much of a fan of them. I think there has to be some kind of magnetic field around this hospital that attracts you to it. You are here, rather more than an average person."

"I just bring bad luck to everyone around me. People would be better off if I stayed away from them."

"Don't say stupid things like that, Elena," Damon snapped as he finished his drink.

Elena's eyes flared. "Oh great, some now I'm stupid?"

"That's not what I said and you know it," Damon bit back. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Why the hell were they even arguing? "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me and don't ever doubt that. I'm sure your friends and family feel the same... okay maybe not exactly the same, but pretty damn close."

Elena looked at Damon closely. She could tell that he meant every word he had said. She even understood the hidden meaning behind his words. He was telling her that he loved her, without exactly saying the three special words. But it didn't make sense. How can she mean so much to him, when he found it so easy to kiss Katherine? Her mind was still going crazy over the thoughts of how far he had taken it with Katherine. If he had slept with her... she didn't know what she would do. It would be devastating. She couldn't think like this. She didn't have the energy in her to contemplate it.

She closed her eyes and washed her mind blank. She didn't say anything in reply. Instead she got up from her seat and moved away from the table, leaving Damon there alone.

He closed his eyes. He'd blown it. He'd said too much. He should have kept his mouth shut. Why was he never able to control himself whenever Elena was around? Okay he knew why, but that didn't make it any better. Before he could internally berate himself some more, Elena returned to her seat again, carrying two more plastic cups filled with coffee.

She could see the question in his eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "I thought we could both use some more coffee."

"Thanks," he said, genuinely grateful. The one cup of coffee hadn't been enough to curb his hunger. He was seriously contemplating a way to make his coffees Irish. A small part of him hadn't wanted Elena to come to the cafeteria with him. Not only did he not want her to figure out how hungry he was, by the fact that he was consuming coffee by the gallons, but being around Elena always made his hunger flare up stronger. That being said, there was no way in hell he'd ever lose control of his bloodlust when she was around. He just couldn't. He'd always have her permission if he were to drink her blood. Anyway, the greater part of him had been glad that she'd wanted to tag along. Time with Elena was always at least a thousand times better than time without Elena around. He'd been deprived of Elena's presence for too long lately and was basking in her proximity.

"I was so scared." Damon's eyes shot up to look at his wife. He'd been lost in his thoughts, he'd just completely spaced out. One look at her though and he knew she was referring to Jeremy. "When Aunt Jenna told me he was in the hospital, all I felt was fear."

"You're allowed to feel scared, Elena. No-one expects you to not be. If anything, there'd be something wrong if you weren't."

Elena nodded, knowing that Damon was right. "I just hate feeling scared. I feel so helpless." Damon nodded again, not knowing what to say to comfort her more. "I only remember feeling this scared two times before. First was when... when my parents and I fell of Wickery Bridge and..." Elena couldn't finish her sentence. There was a lump in her throat, just thinking about the awful day, the worst day of her life. "The other time was after you told us that you wanted to avenge Rose's death but you underestimated Jules and came within millimeters of mauling and biting you as well. I was so thankful when Stefan, Ric and I reached you."

Damon was shocked at Elena's words. He hadn't told her about that incident. He had conveniently left it out, not wanting to worry her after he'd discussed the guilt he'd felt when Jules had killed Rose, when it was so close to being him. Did Elena know that he had gone to Jules, almost wanting the werewolf to kill him?

"How did you know about that?"

Elena froze. Her eyes widened and he knew that she hadn't meant to slip up like that. How much exactly was his wife keeping from him?

"How many memories have you gotten back, Elena?"

Again she didn't answer him. She looked like she was weighing out her options, whether to tell him the truth or not.

"Have you gotten all your memories back?"


	30. Chapter 30

A/N Saying sorry for the huge wait since the last chapter isn't really going to make up for it but I want you to know that I am sorry. Those who follow me on twitter know that I've just started dental school and so I genuinely have no time to write when I'm at university. I've just begun my Christmas holidays and I plan on trying to finish this story before I'm back at uni. I just want to say a humongous thank you for all the reviews I've been receiving. I read each and every single one of them and cherish them all.

Due to the long wait, I really do advise that you go back over the last few chapters in case you've forgotten what's been happening, unless you've only recently read the previous chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this.

* * *

_"Have you gotten all your memories back?"_

Elena heard the curiosity in his voice but what took her aback was the amount of pain that was laced in his words. Despite the whirlwind they'd been through in the last month and a half, especially the last week, she could never wish pain upon Damon because no matter what, if Damon was in pain, then she was in pain as well.

"No," Elena sharply, wanting to make sure he knew that that was the case. "I haven't gotten all my memories back. I've just had a few here and there, mainly those of my friends."

"Oh, have you had any new memories of us?" Damon asked tentatively. He was glad to hear that she was slowly regaining memories. Even if she were never to get them all back, it was nice to see her remember some things. He found it hard to hide the hint of anger that he felt at the fact that Elena was only telling him of the developments with her memory now. But he understood why she hadn't said anything earlier, it wasn't the highest priority and they hadn't spoken in a number of days.

"No, not really," she answered.

"Why didn't you mention the fact that some of your memories had returned, earlier?"

Elena immediately went on the defensive. She didn't feel like she had to share everything with him, especially considering how betrayed she felt.

"Why do I have to tell my cheating husband every little detail of my life?" she snapped. She didn't know where these words were coming from. She knew that the downfall of their relationship had begun with her inability to share everything with Damon. She hadn't told him the truth about Stefan's actions and her feelings and it was entirely her fault that things had gotten out of hand. That being said, her poor decisions, in no way shape or form gave Damon permission to execute his equally poor decisions.

Damon's face clearly expressed the shock he felt at her cruel words. He hadn't expected her to react so harshly. He didn't even know what to say in reply. Was that really what she thought and felt about him now? Before he had a chance to form a response, Elena spoke up again.

"I'm sorry," she apologised sincerely, "that was uncalled for." Damon nodded his head, letting her jab slide. He'd probably deserved her anger anyway. All he knew now was that he was going to make her listen to his explanation at this very moment because they couldn't keep going like this. He couldn't let her keep harbouring these negative feelings towards him. He loved her and every time she looked at him in disgust, it broke his heart a little. It reminded him of the looks she used to send him when he first moved back to Mystic Falls and wreaked havoc in her life.

"Elena, I know you don't want to talk about this now but we have to," Damon began. Elena started shaking her head; she didn't want to hear it. She didn't want another confirmation of his infidelity; she'd rather be in denial. "Elena, you have to hear me out," he added sternly. "This has all been a misunderstanding."

Elena's eyebrows furrowed as she took in the meaning of his words. Did he know what really went down between her and Stefan? "So you know that Stefan lied?" she questioned, not letting any emotion enter her voice.

Damon nodded sadly. "He told me the truth: that it was him who made a move on you." Damon's eyes softened as he spoke sincerely, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before accepting Stefan's words and escaping town." Elena didn't say anything. Damon brushed his hands through his hair in frustration. "I know that I try to make out that I'm confident within myself and that nothing fazes me and honestly nothing does, except you. Whenever you're involved in anything, I become the most insecure man in existence. I don't know, I guess I still don't feel worthy of you, because you're perfect and I don't deserve you after everything I've done in my life."

Tears welled up in Elena's eyes. He was wrong. "I'm not perfect Damon," she whispered as a tear rolled down her right cheek.

Damon leaned forward and used the pad of his thumb to wipe the tear away from her cheek. "I know, but you're perfect to me." He removed his hand from her face and gulped, "Stefan told me the truth and I beat the shit out of him." Elena couldn't help but let a little giggle escape her lips. Stefan really deserved the pulverising for ruining her relationship with Damon. "He told me about the bloodlust," he continued.

"Are you going to help him through it?" Elena asked.

Damon shook his head. "Not this time. I can't help him anymore. Besides, he's left town now."

Elena screwed up her face and shook her head. "Damon," she stressed his name. "I know he was an absolute d-bag for what he did, but you can't leave him. He needs you."

Damon shook his head again in disagreement. "He doesn't listen to me. He won't learn that control is learning to drink from the vein without killing. I can't help him go back to killing the cute puppies because all I'm doing is delaying the inevitable - him falling off the wagon again. I helped him get back to this diet last time and look at how that fucked up my life. He needs to figure it out himself or find someone out there to help him." Elena nodded her head, understanding where he was coming from, but she couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit sorry for him, so she silently prayed that he'd find another vampire out there who could help him, like Lexi, except this time he'd learn real control.

"So I guess we're done here," Elena stated as she hurriedly tried to get out of her seat and avoid the rest of the conversation - the part that was likely to break her heart all over again.

Before she could even take two steps away from her seat, Damon grabbed her wrist and turned her back around so that she was facing him again.

"You're kidding me, right?" he asked, unimpressed by her antics. He was going to make her hear him out even if it was the last thing he ever did. Right now, he didn't care that she didn't want to. He wasn't going to spend another minute without her in his life, knowing the whole truth. He gently pushed her back into her seat and grabbed hold of both of her hands. His thumb brushed over her knuckles as his eyes bore into hers.

"What you saw in Atlanta... it wasn't what it looked like," he tried to explain.

"So I didn't see you kissing Katherine?" Elena sarcastically jabbed, pulling her hands away from within Damon's. "Because I'm almost certain that's what I saw. Unless there's yet another doppelganger I don't know about?" She couldn't believe Damon was forcing her to listen to his escapades and then he had the gall to try and pretend he wasn't kissing Katherine. Who was this guy, she married? He was starting to sound more like blood-crazy Stefan.

"No, I kissed Katherine, but I didn't know it was her."

Elena was confused. What did that mean? "What do you mean you didn't know it was her? Who did you think it was? Angelina Jolie?" Damon's sarcasm had definitely rubbed off on her. She couldn't get through one reply without making a sarcastic comment. She was trying to protect her heart the way Damon would.

Damon rubbed his hands over his face, not wanting to admit what an idiotic mistake he'd made for even thinking for a second that Katherine was Elena. "I thought she was you," he said quietly, shame lacing his voice.

"What?" she asked in shock.

"She was pretending to be you and I fell for it," he admitted.

"What?" she repeated. "You couldn't tell the difference between me and Katherine?" she asked sadly.

Damon closed his eyes, hearing the disappointment in her voice. He had let her down, big time. "I'm sorry Elena. She caught me off-guard. I'd just had an argument with Andie and-"

"Andie was there?" Elena asked loudly, interrupting him with the new discovery.

Damon banged his head against the table. Why did they have to have so many issues? He lifted his head, to see her face holding an expression of utter confusion. "You were right about Andie, Elena. I'm sorry for not trusting you... and I'm sorry about the hurtful things that she said to you. She was competely out of line, let alone one hundred percent wrong. You're the best thing that's happened to me."

Elena swallowed at his confession. She took a deep breath before answering, "It's okay. I understand that her friendship meant a lot to you and so it was hard for you to see her flaws." She was glad that Damon knew the truth about Andie now and although it hurt that he hadn't believed her, she could forgive him for it. Anyway, they had bigger issues to deal with.

"So, you and Andie had a fight... then what?"

"Then I asked Andie to leave. Literally seconds after she left, Katherine appeared and began pretending to be you. She had straightened her hair and kept her face void of her usual playful expressions. I was so drunk and just blind-sided by what I thought was your presence. I'm so stupid I know, because you and Katherine are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to your personalities," Damon tried to explain. "I'm sorry," he whispered. His eyes held the pain he felt at making such a monumental mistake and Elena could see just how horrified he was by it.

"Why did she pretend to be me?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. " I guess she knows that you and I are married and that the only way she could ever kiss me was if she pretended to be you, because there was no way in hell I would ever kiss her knowing it was her. She pounced on me and that I hardly returned the kiss. I knew something was wrong with the way she kissed me, it wasn't right, because it wasn't you."

"So it was just one kiss?" Elena asked tentatively.

"If you can even call one party being involved a kiss, then yes."

"So kissing Katherine wasn't just your friendly way of saying, 'it's so great to see you Katherine after 150 plus years'?" she asked sarcastically as she tried to cover up a genuine fear she had felt.

"What?" Damon asked confused. "I've seen Katherine before in the last four years Elena." Elena's heart stopped at his words. He and Katherine had crossed paths again already? Had she already had a conversation with Katherine before?

Damon could see the wheels turning in his wife's head and he knew he had to explain himself quickly before he got himself into deeper shit.

"When she wasn't in the tomb, I gave up looking for her. It was the last straw that made me realise what a complete idiot I was and how much time I had wasted pining over a self-serving, manipulative bitch. It was like she had some sixth sense letting her know that I was getting over her and she just had to come back to Mystic Falls. She played with my emotions again, trying to make me fall for her again," he explained.

"Did you?" Elena asked tentatively, "Did you fall for her?"

Damon shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "No."

"Why not? You were in love with her for almost a century and a half." Elena's heart ached at the realisation of how long he had loved the woman she looked like. She would kill to have Damon's unwavering love for so long.

"I realised that I wasn't really ever in love with her for nearly that long, if at all. I was more infatuated by and obsessed over her. I know what love is now and it's not what I felt for Katherine." Elena's breath hitched, hearing his inadvertant way of telling her that he loved her. She would never get used to hearing how much she meant to him. Her heart ached, wishing she could tell him that she loved him too.

"So she just left town when you turned her down?"

"Not quite. It took her a while to realise that my choice wasn't changing. I almost didn't turn her down. But you gave me the strength to do it," he admitted.

"What? How?" she asked genuinely curious. She felt pride swell within her that she gave Damon the strength to reject the woman who had ruined his life.

"I was falling in love with you when Katherine showed up. You showed me what I really wanted in the woman I would come to love. I wanted a girl that could make me deliriously happy, who was cute and funny and sexy as hell. I wanted a girl that cared for me and wanted to make me just as happy as I wanted to make her. Katherine was never going to be that for me. Only you could. You made me see that there was a million times better out there," Damon admitted sincerely.

Elena closed her eyes. How could he be so incredibly sweet and loving and yet not believe in her the one time she needed him to.

She gave him a sad smile as she thought long and hard about her next words. "I get that this was all just one huge mistake that just continued to go wrong and that everything just became a big misunderstanding." Damon opened his mouth to speak but Elena held her hand up, signalling that she wasn't finished. "But I don't know if I can forgive you."

Damon could feel his whole world crumbling around him and he started grasping at the ends. He had to make things right. He had to make her forgive him. "Elena, I'm sorry. I swear it was just a stupid mistake and I won't ever make it again," he said desperately. "Please Elena," he begged, "I love you."

Elena couldn't stop the stream of tears that poured out of her eyes. She had so badly wanted to hear Damon say those three words to her face again and now that he did, she wished he hadn't. It only made sticking to her decision so much harder. She couldn't just let go of the pain she suffered in the last week. Her trust was still broken and she couldn't just forgive him on the spot, she needed time. "I'm sorry Damon," she said sadly before standing up and making her way out of the cafeteria, leaving Damon all alone to his thoughts.

* * *

Elena joined her aunt, her brother's girlfriend and Ric in the waiting room. Visiting hours had finally opened and so they all had the chance to see Jeremy. None of the girls could stop the tears escaping when they saw Jeremy's stationary body, lying in the hospital bed. They were only allowed to visit in pairs and so they continuously rotated who was in the room with Jeremy. Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and Tyler all stopped by during the day as well.

Almost everyone had slowly trickled out of the hospital to get some peaceful rest after all the worry and anxiety that they'd all be feeling. Soon enough, the only people left were Elena and Anna. They both sat watching Jeremy's chest rise and fall under the hospital covers. It was comforting to see him breathing. He hadn't woken up all day but the doctor said it may take a while.

Neither of the girls were speaking, both lost in their own worlds, when all of sudden Anna began sobbing. Elena was alarmed, having no idea why her brother's girl was breaking down. Elena pulled Anna into a hug and rubbed her back in the hopes of bringing her comfort.

"It's alright Anna. Jeremy is going to be fine, the doctor said it might be a while before he wakes up but he _will_ wake-up," Elena soothed.

Anna sniffed, trying to hold back the remainder of her tears. She pulled back from Elena's hug and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"It's all my fault," she said in despair.

"What was your fault?" Elena asked, puzzled by her words before realisation dawned. "This?" she asked incredulously. "Anna, there was no way in hell that this was your fault. You weren't the psychopath who shot my brother in the local store."

"I know," Anna said sadly, her voice a little raspy from all the crying that had occurred. "But I might as well have been. It was my fault that Jeremy was even in that position to begin with."

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to make the famous Gilbert chilli on your family's behalf for the Founder's event next week and I wanted to practice it so that it'd be perfect on the day. I forgot to buy the chilli powder so I asked Jeremy to go to the store to get it but he didn't want to. We got into a huge, stupid argument over it and I said some things that I didn't mean at all. If I hadn't been so adamant and had gone myself, then he'd be perfectly fine. This is all my fault."

Elena's face gave away how ridiculous she felt about Anna's statement. "Anna! You can't seriously believe that. It was in no way your fault. It wasn't like you knew sending him on one small errand would end in him being shot. No-one can know when something as random as this happens. Millions of people go to their local store multiple times a week without being shot." Elena argued trying to make the girl see sense.

"I know it's stupid to feel this way but I can't stop myself. I'm a vampire, if I had gone, I would've been fine," Anna sobbed. "I just wish my last words to him before he got shot weren't so harsh and uncalled for. Why do we always waste so much time being angry at people when you can lose them so easily and unexpectedly in a heartbeat?" Anna asked sincerely, pain lacing her raspy voice.

Elena's world stopped as Anna's question sunk in. _Why do we always waste so much time being angry at people when you can lose them so easily and unexpectedly in a heartbeat? _Why was she wasting her time being angry at Damon when he had apologised profusely. He loved her and he hadn't meant to hurt her so badly. She loved him too and instead of enjoying their lives together and sharing their love for each other, she was causing them both unnecessary pain. If she just let go of the multiple misunderstandings, they could both be happy together. Silent tears ran down her cheeks at her realisation. She gulped, she knew what she had to do and she had to do it right away.

"I honestly don't know Anna," she replied honestly. "I guess we're all just idiots. But thank you, you just made me realise how big of an idiot I am." Anna looked at her confused by her cryptic words. "I'm sorry Anna, but there is something I have to do. I've been wasting so much time and energy. I need to put things right. Will you be okay here alone?" she asked as she stood up.

Anna wiped her tears away. She figured Elena was going to go and fix her problems with Damon and she was glad that she was able to help the couple out. They really were perfect for each other. "I'll be fine; I'll compel any nurse away that tries to make me leave when visiting hours are over." Just as Elena was about to exit the room, Anna spoke again, "Go get him, Elena." Elena smiled brightly and nodded her head. She was going to find Damon and let him know that she loved him, so that they could put all their nonsense behind them and be happy together.

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We're finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel! Poor Damon thinks he's been rejected forever... don't worry though! Elena is coming for you! Thank you so much guys for still sticking with me and reading this :)

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